Hell Followed
by anisotropic
Summary: Hermione learns she carries Veela blood, and as she learns what it means to do so, she isn't sure she really wants to find her mate, even if it means death if she doesn't. When she finds out Snape is her mate, she becomes even more sure she would rather let the curse of her Veela blood run its course. (Sorry, suck at summaries. And rating may go up to M later)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Second fanfic ever. I know the Veela thing is pretty overdone, but wanted to try my hand at it, and there don't seem to be as many Hermione being the Veela ones, not that I've found anyway. So, hope you like it. Sorry about any mistakes I didn't catch.

Chapter 1

Hermione trudged her way into Transfiguration class. She had only been back at school for a month and a half for their final year but already she felt exhausted.

After that year on the run, the stress of the last few years combined and the war, she had been hoping to just settle into a nice routine for school and study hard for her N.E.W.T's. But that didn't seem to be going very well for her.

She had thought she would get better, with regular meals, regular sleep, no more having to run or fear for her life. But she was tired all the time, even when she got a full nights sleep she woke up exhausted. She had even changed her diet to consist of healthy and high energy food and plenty of water. It had helped her energy levels a little, but not enough.

Hermione didn't know what was wrong with her. All the stress finally having time to catch up with her maybe? Made about as much sense as anything else. She had even thought of giving up her Head Girl position so she would have less responsibilities and no late night patrols. But she quickly scolded herself for the notion. She had worked hard for that and she wasn't going to give it up just because she was a bit more tired than usual.

"Miss Granger?"

Hermione blinked blearily at Professor McGonagall. Though Headmistress, she still had to take Transfiguration until a replacement could be found.

"Yes Professor?"

"Are you ill child?"

"No, I'm just a bit tired," she replied.

She took a step towards her desk and was suddenly light headed. Her vision clouded over and she just about fell, would have if not for the surprisingly gentle support of Goyle who had been coming in behind her. He helped her to her seat.

Since returning to Hogwarts this year, the boy had been subdued and very quiet, mostly keeping to himself. No more racial slurs, no more insults, no more taunting. In fact, it was that way with a lot of people since the wars end.

"Mr Goyle, would you mind escorting Miss Granger to the hospital wing and ensure she gets there safely."

"I'm fine Professor, really-"

"You most certainly are not. Off with you."

Goyle helped her up, taking her bag and slinging it over his own shoulder, supporting much of her weight as they made their way slowly and silently through the hallways. They got to the hospital wing without incident and he helped her up onto one of the cots.

"Thank you...Gregory."

He seemed surprised at the use of his first name and she offered a tremulous smile.

He only nodded. "I'll track down Madame Pomfrey for you."

Setting her bag down he went in search of the medi witch, starting with her office. A few moments later the woman came bustling out, Goyle behind her. He made his way to the entrance and slipped out.

"Right, what seems to be the trouble with you Miss Granger?"

"I'm not sure. But Professor McGonagall sent me here because I almost collapsed in class."

"Do you know what brought that on?"

She shook her head. "I've just been really tired all the time."

"Are you getting much sleep?"

"A decent amount I thought. Sometimes I still have...bad dreams, but it's not all the time."

Madame Pomfrey took out her wand and started casting her usual diagnostic spells.

"Anything else?" She asked. "Headaches? Any other aches and pains? How is your appetite?"

"I do get head aches a lot, they started coming quite frequently during that year on the run, but I figured it was stress and lack of food, I thought they would go away once everything went back to normal. Appetite wise...I suppose I don't eat as much as I used to before the war, and food isn't as satisfying. But last year we often had to go a few days without food and I just assumed my stomach shrunk or something. Again, with a proper routine and regular meals and sleep I thought it would go back to normal, but it isn't."

"Have you been taking anything for the head aches?"

Hermione shook her head. She had always tried to avoid medication, preferring a more natural remedy to things. During their break between the war and the resumption of school while it was rebuilt, she had taken to learning reflexology hoping to help with some of her problems. It eased things a little, but not significantly. She just didn't like the idea of relying on pharmaceuticals or potions, not unless she knew it was going to be a one off. She didn't want to become dependent.

Madame Pomfrey couldn't find anything wrong with her aside from the damage she'd suffered during that year on the run, still a bit under nourished but that was to be expected.

"Do you mind if I take a sample of your blood Miss Granger? I'd like to run some more tests, just to be sure."

Hermione held her arm out in response while Madame Pomfrey retrieved a vial and magically drew some blood from her vein, sealing up the incision as soon as she was done.

"All right, well nothing obvious seems to be wrong with you, possibly you're working yourself too hard too soon after everything you've been through. For now, take a Pepper-up to help you through the rest of the day."

At the look on her face, Madame Pomfrey chuckled.

"Don't worry, we won't make a habit of it, it's just for today. Hopefully we'll come up with some answers for you soon."

Hermione nodded and drank down the potion she handed to her. She could feel it start to take effect, but it wasn't as invigorating as she remembered.

"Be sure to eat plenty of fruit and veges and keep your fluids up."

Hermione nodded, not bothering to tell her she'd already been trying to do that.

xXx

Hermione struggled through her week in a daze, each day returning to her dorm absolutely shattered and barely managing to get through her homework. Sometimes her head aches were no longer just head aches but full blown migraines.

Her friends were beginning to get really concerned about her and Harry had tried to talk to her about it, suggesting she go to Madame Pomfrey. Hermione had told him she'd already been and the woman had found nothing wrong.

On Friday, after dinner though, Hermione was called up to the Headmistresses office. Were her grades beginning to suffer? Surely she wasn't in trouble for anything, her, Ron and Harry had done nothing remotely troublesome since returning to school. There was no reason to.

She got up there and was instantly admitted into the Headmistresses office.

"Take a seat Hermione," she said, giving her a tight smile.

She didn't offer tea or biscuits, just went straight to requesting a house elf serve some up. That was different. Hermione watched her flavour her tea to taste, stirring slowly. Professor McGonagall was usually a very direct and blunt woman, yet here she was, procrastinating with tea and biscuits and now cleaning her glasses.

"Oh my God you're taking away my Head Girl position!?"

The old woman's eyes widened. "No of course not, why on earth would you think that?"

Hermione sunk into her chair in relief. "I don't know."

"Have some tea Hermione, it's chamomile."

Hermione did as she was told, hoping the woman would get to the point.

"Madame Pomfrey passed on the results of your blood test to me," she said eventually.

Hermione frowned. Wasn't that a breach of confidentiality?

"Before you get all affronted, she felt the news I have for you would be better coming from me."

It was a fair assumption. Hermione looked upon the woman as a grandmother, outside of class anyway. And she trusted her implicitly.

"I had thought nothing had come of the tests when I hadn't heard anything by the next day," Hermione said.

It usually didn't take long in the wizarding world to get results like that, especially not for a prominent and enclosed school like this. There were all sorts of concerns about contagiousness and such so Madame Pomfrey's requests were usually rushed.

"The results caused for some research to be done."

"Am I dying?"

"No no, of course not."

"Then please just tell me because you're really beginning to scare me."

"We have discovered you're part Veela Hermione."

"What!?" Hermione managed a breathless gasp at the statement.

"That was the research that needed to be done. And we had to get in touch with the Ministry to do it. Your maternal grandmother was a full blooded Veela."

Hermione shakes her head. "But my mum isn't-"

"We suspect it was the fact you were born with magic that activated the Veela gene within you while bypassing her."

"Are...are you sure? I mean, nana Nereid surely would have said something or..."

Hermione trailed off. Her nana had died shortly before Hermione had received her Hogwarts letter. She never would have known and likely would have believed Hermione's Veela gene would remain latent as it had done with her mother.

"Ok," she breathed. "Ok so I'm part Veela, that's ok, I can work with that. I mean, they get inhuman strength and agility-"

"Actually, due to the fact you're not full Veela, you won't manifest any of the physical traits. Your change is internal. You may experience a heightening of your senses, not to the degree of a full or even half blooded Veela, but enough to notice a difference. And you certainly won't gain wings or anything like that."

"Oh." She wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or not. "So is being a Veela why I've been so tired lately? Am I going through some kind of hormonal or biological transformation or something?"

"In a way. You turned seventeen back in your sixth year correct?"

Hermione nodded.

"A Veela, like most magical creatures, reaches maturity and begins the chemical changes to attract their mate. Despite only being quarter blooded this will apply to you."

Damn, Hermione didn't like the sound of that.

"A Veela's survival becomes dependent upon their mate Hermione."

Hermione felt the breath leave her. "How dependent?" She managed to choke out.

"They will die without them."

"How long can they survive without them?"

"It varies. But never more than a few years. Potions can help, maintaining good health, but a Veela's energy comes from their mate Hermione. Without them, a Veela can only survive for so long. Most tend to last until their twentieth birthday, give or take a few months."

"I turned nineteen this year," she said, her voice sounding far away to her own ears.

McGonagall nodded. "On the positive side, your mate is someone you've met."

"How do you know?"

"A connection is forged, without that connection, there can be no mate. It is someone you've had to have regular contact with at least and considering where you've spent much of your life during your developing years, it's very likely your mate is within the castle."

"What if he died in the war?"

"Don't be so pessimistic."

"But I won't know until I can't find him will I?"

She could feel hysteria beginning to rear its ugly head. Mated? At such a young age? Or die...

She closed her eyes and took a few deep calming breaths, willing herself not to get worked up. It wasn't as if she had the energy for it anyway. She was exhausted and she had homework and she did not feel up to dealing with this right now.

"How will I know if I find him?"

"I don't know," she replied. "However, you have full access to the restricted section and I will allow you the use of my floo to get in touch with Fleur Weasley, she will likely be of more help than I."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you. I think...I think I'll just...go back to my dorm right now though."

"Of course, the use of the floo is an open offer."

"You won't tell anyone about this will you?"

"Not without your permission Hermione."

"Thanks."

Hermione rose to her feet before walking in a daze back to the Heads dorms. She flopped onto the couch in the common room and let herself cry. She couldn't believe this! She couldn't even ask her mother about it, she hadn't been able to reverse the memory charms and now they would never know her. And she would never know that little baby growing in her mothers belly. That thought got a quick mental shove, as if she needed to add to the feeling of being overwhelmed with a bit of grief.

Hermione had moved in with Harry at Grimmauld Place after that disappointment and intended to live there after graduation until she found her own place. Harry had tried to convince her to live with him indefinitely, he found the place quite lonely on his own. Hermione, unable to deny him, had agreed to stay as long as he needed someone else there.

Order members still passed through it, Remus and Tonks mostly to check on them. Professor Snape had spent time recovering there until they'd managed to clear his name. The Weasley's had stayed for a short time, mostly to see that Harry and Hermione were all right.

It had been a long summer.

Hermione awoke to the gentle shaking of her shoulder and she opened up her puffy eyes with a bit of difficulty.

"Geez Granger you look like shit," Malfoy said softly. "And you're hogging the couch."

"Ever the charmer," she muttered, her voice hoarse. Sitting up, she rubbed at her sore eyes.

Malfoy had been appointed Head Boy and surprisingly, they were getting on ok and had been working well together. They tried to avoid fighting, and had managed a bit of a teasing friendship.

"What's wrong?" He asked, plonking down beside her.

"Just got some bad news."

He nodded, but didn't push. They weren't exactly at the confidante stage just yet.

"You should...you should probably head up to bed Granger, you look like you could use the sleep."

Hermione nodded. "If Harry and Ron-"

"I'll send them off and I'll do it without resorting to hexes," he assured her with a roll of his eyes.

"Thanks Malfoy."

She disappeared up to her room, Draco watching her go. He was a bit concerned, had been for awhile actually. She was not looking good. He'd heard her screams sometimes, from her nightmares, her pleading and begging. He carried a lot of guilt about her torture in his home at his aunts hands. Part of his reformed attitude when dealing with her was because of that guilt. She had held up admirably through all of that and never gave up any information that they wanted. Her strength and loyalty was something to be admired and he wasn't so blinded by his prejudices any more that he couldn't see that.

He wondered if the bad news she'd received was about the decline in her health. Maybe he'd try to discretely ease some of the burden of Heads duties for her.

xXx

Professor McGonagall had allowed Hermione to meet Fleur in Hogsmeade despite the fact it wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend. They had arranged to meet at the Three Broomsticks. Hermione had successfully managed to avoid her friends, knowing the bomb dropped on her last night had wreaked havoc on her stress levels and she was looking more terrible than usual. She had wanted to forgo the interrogation.

When Hermione spotted Fleur in the almost empty place, she headed towards her. Fleur got up and greeted Hermione enthusiastically, pulling her into a hug.

"Hello Hermione."

"Hi Fleur," she returned. They took their seats. "How are you?"

"I'm well. You do not look like you could say the same," she said, reaching across and brushing one of Hermione's curls out of her face. The woman had always been quite touchy-feely.

"Uh, no. Not really. I... What I say here, I need you to keep it a secret please, no one can know."

They were interrupted as Rosmerta took their order. Both women went with Butterbeer.

"You have my word," Fleur said once they were alone again.

"Thank you," Hermione sighed, taking out her wand and casting muffliato around them for added insurance. "I recently, as in yesterday, found out I am part Veela."

Fleur's eyes widened. "I see. You have not found your mate I take it, if your current ill health is any indication."

Hermione nodded. "I didn't even know I needed one. How do I find one? How do I know?"

That was her biggest concern right now.

"It is difficult to explain, you just do. It is different for every Veela. For some, it is scent, for another they will only be able to tell by touch. For some they will know upon seeing. Others still just feel it by being near them."

Hermione was stunned by how unhelpful that was. "How did you realize Bill was yours?"

"I just had to look at him and I felt it. There was an instant connection," she replied.

"Professor McGonagall told me that a Veela will have met their mate before."

Fleur nodded. "I had met Bill, he was doing some work for the Gringotts branch in Paris. I met him there, very briefly. But when I turned seventeen and met him again while he was doing work for the Order, I realised. We dated for almost a year-"

"A Veela can date?" Hermione interrupted.

"I didn't tell him he was my mate," she told her. "While there are perks to being a Veela, there are disadvantages too."

"There are advantages?" She said it flatly.

Fleur just gave her a small smile. "While a mate may possess desirable traits to a particular Veela, that does not necessarily mean they are going to get along. A mated pair will have some sort of history, and that history does not have to be a good one. A veela unfortunately is compelled to do what it takes to keep their mate happy, if they're lucky, and they usually are, the mate will reciprocate, as Bill does. He does not wield the power he has over me. But there are a few who take advantage of this compulsion and will withhold what a Veela needs from their mate to force them into submission."

Hermione's eyes widened.

"As I said, it is very rare, Veela do have innate defence mechanisms to cope with such things, but there are a few who are unaffected."

"What does a Veela need from their mate and what kind of defence mechanisms?"

"Blood Hermione, Veela are sustained by their mates blood."

Hermione's face contorted in revulsion at the idea of drinking someone's blood.

"Blood!? What makes us any different from vampires?"

"We don't die in the sun for starters. And the blood of anyone won't sustain us, only our mates. We also don't need to drink as much as often as them. We're also not dead."

Hermione flushed at Fluers tone. It may have been a bit insulting to imply Veela were no better than vampires.

"Sorry. What about these defence mechanisms then?"

"Pheromones. We release them, when we do so, it can make our mate calm, release a lot and they will become much more compliant. Depending on the amount you can even make them...amorous."

Hermione quirked a brow. Did she mean horny?

"That's it? That's the extent of our defence?"

"Don't underestimate it, it can be a very powerful thing," Fleur assured her.

Hermione nodded, but was still unconvinced. Her next question made her a bit uncomfortable and she squirmed in her seat a bit. It was a stupid one she knew, but it had sort of been bothering her since she found out about her heritage, though not to the extent everything else was.

"Fleur...you're very pretty," she began.

Fleur smiled. "Thank you, that's very sweet."

"No I mean, Veela are supposed to be aren't they? You are, a lot of those girls that came with you from Beauxbatons were. So...how come I'm not?" Her voice got quieter with every word.

It was a bit embarrassing to ask, and kind of vain and girly of her, but was she so hopeless that even Veela blood couldn't help her?

"Is it because of my muggle heritage?"

Fleur seemed very surprised by the question. "Oh Hermione, are you truly so blind?"

Her eyes flashed in irritation. She wasn't blind.

"You are very beautiful, though your ill health is taking its toll. But I remember seeing you after your fifth year, you were at the Burrow for the summer. It was a few weeks shy of your seventeenth birthday correct?"

Hermione nodded, remembering seeing Fleur there then.

"You were really coming into your own, surely you noticed the way the Weasley boys were treating you, the admiring glances, the blushes, the flirtation..."

Hermione frowned. Maybe she was blind. She hadn't noticed anything. Hermione shook her head.

"The twins have always been kind of flirty, that's just the way they are, they don't mean anything by it and Ron...is Ron."

Fleur just laughed lightly and shook her head as if trying to explain something to a hopeless child.

"Never mind, forget I asked," Hermione muttered. "Next question. Rejection. How does that work? Why do Veela die and can it be circumvented?"

"There is some leeway with that, it really all depends on the Veela. Rejection will lead to death yes, a Veela's purpose is to find their mate and procreate. If a Veela feels they have been rejected, then their purpose has been taken away and their bodies will begin to shut down as well as having their sustenance denied them. But, if a Veela is truly confident they can win their mate after initial rejection, then they won't begin to wither, but they will still suffer the effects of not having their mates blood."

Hermione nodded. That was something at least.

"Ok. What about how long a Veela can last without their mate?"

"A few years at most, some can perish quickly, within the same year of reaching their maturity. One woman, a remarkable case, managed to live almost a whole decade without her mate."

"There's no way around it? No way to get the necessary sustenance from somewhere else?"

Fleur shook her head.

"What about creating a synthetic replica of whatever it is a Veela gets from their mate? Why isn't there one? That way Veela wouldn't be beholden to their mate."

"It is not something that can be replicated. It is not just the blood you take, there is a magical and spiritual element to it as well, the giving and taking of our souls. If your mate understands that, truly understands what it means to be mated to a Veela, the energy you can deride from them can last you quite some time and the connection will run very deep between you."

"What about all these tales of Veela romances? That being mated to one is supposed to be one of the most amazing things ever and how devoted they will be and how it's the deepest and purest of loves and all that?"

So far Hermione wasn't really finding anything good in this situation.

"True to an extent, but much of it has been fabricated or exaggerated. It was a way to protect ourselves. If a mate believed it to be something good, there would be less resistance, if we convinced the world it was something everyone wanted and desired then a mate was usually just grateful. They very rarely caught on to the compulsion a Veela felt to keep them content."

Hermione nodded. If a mate never realised just how necessary it was to keep them happy, they would never feel the need to abuse the power they had. By the sound of it, a mate had the power to make a Veela do anything they wanted. It was almost a hostage situation.

Hermione could remember Lavender and Pavarti, hell even Ginny going on about how romantic it would be to be mated to a Veela. The devotion and protection, the need to never doubt their loyalty. Then there was the apparent sensuality of a Veela. Hermione wondered where hers was hiding. There was nothing sensual about her.

This situation was getting worse the more she learned.

"Can there be real love though?" Hermione asked.

"Of course. Essentially you have been matched with someone compatible but like all relationships, there are obstacles and ups and downs."

Hermione nodded throughtfully. That was something at least. Things weren't completely hopeless. But then...she really loathed the idea of anyone having such power over her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ok, I can't actually respond privately to Hermionefan1983, it won't let me, so I'll just do it here. I have no idea if they have wings, in a few of the veela fics I've read, some people have said they do, I don't know if they're getting that as fact from somewhere, but just thought I'd throw it in just in case.

As for the question asked by Moi, about the blood, hopefully it'll be answered to your satisfaction in future chapters, i just didn't want to chuck all the Veela information in one go in one chapter just to get it out of the way, Hermione gets information from several sources and some of them contradict each other, it's up to Hermione to figure out what's truth for her.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading and for the reviews. Hope you enjoy chapter 2. :)

Chapter 2

Hermione made her way back up to the castle, her feet heavy with both her exhaustion and the weight of the knowledge she had just been given.

Fleur had told her there had even been Veela who had opted to just live their remaining years mateless rather than submit to the bonding. Hermione didn't think she could blame them.

It almost felt like a betrayal against her, committed by her own blood. How could it do this to her!? Make her survival dependant on the will of another!?

Hermione resisted the urge to scream her frustration. She wasn't so far away from civilization that it would go unheard. The last thing she wanted was someone thinking she was in trouble and rush to her location only to find out she was just losing her mind.

She would have to tell her friends too. But that could wait until tomorrow. There was no way in hell she was sitting through that conversation today. Ron was likely not going to take it very well, especially since they were pretty much on the cusp of dating. They had shared a few stolen kisses since the wars end, but they hadn't really spoken about what it meant. It was probably a good thing she hadn't gotten in any deeper.

She was already certain he wasn't her mate, she had touched, seen and smelled him plenty of times since turning seventeen and had never felt anything overly significant. She had liked him for a long time yes, but she assumed 'she would just know' meant she would feel something a little earth shattering at least. Nothing about Ron had ever been earth shattering to her. Even when he had abandoned them, sad as it was, the only surprise had come from the fact he had lasted as long as he had.

In a way she supposed it was better he wasn't. While she did like him, and he was one of her best friends, she certainly wasn't blind to his faults. Ron could be very selfish and demanding and truth be told, she couldn't trust him not to abuse the power he would have over her.

She actually couldn't think of a single person she would trust with her free will. Harry and Neville wouldn't intentionally abuse it she supposed. But that was pointless, she already knew it couldn't be them either. She had seen, touched and smelled them plenty of times too.

Hermione got back up to her dorm, stuck a note to her door warning off any visitors, then warded it and went to bed to wallow in her misery a bit, then come up with a plan to either cope with this, or find a way out. One that didn't involve suicide.

xXx

Hermione felt her wards disturbed a few times during yesterday and last night, but she'd ignored them all. The only visit she'd had had been from a House elf sent by Harry to make sure she ate. He really was such a lovely boy. At least now, with the war over, he finally had a chance to relax, to not have to fret about having his mind invaded or fight for his life.

The next morning Hermione rose and showered, readying herself for the day and the conversation she needed to have with her friends. She skipped breakfast, but Harry still sent something up to her. She picked at it, had to force most of that down because she was a bundle of nerves and still felt like utter shite.

After breakfast she found Harry in the Common room sitting on the floor at the table looking to be puzzling over his homework. Gin and Ron were nowhere in sight.

"Hey Harry," she greeted, taking a seat opposite him.

"Hey 'Mione," he returned looking up at her. She didn't miss the flash of concern in his eyes at her state. "What happened yesterday? Why didn't you let us come see you?"

"I just...I got some news yesterday and I didn't feel up to company. But I'm going to tell you guys now, you should probably know what's going."

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Of a sort."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Not really, but I still need to tell you guys."

"I'll find Ron and Gin and meet you in your room then?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Harry rolled up his work and helped her stand, squeezing her hand gently before letting it go.

"Do you want me to bring up any food or drink or anything?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Not unless you want some for yourself."

"Right, I'll go find Ron and Gin."

They went their separate ways. Harry had been really concerned for Hermione. They had all looked like death last year and for quite some time after the war, but Hermione never seemed to get better. Well, she did a little, and slowly. He and Ron were doing really well, putting back on all the weight they lost, regaining their strength and healthy colour. Hermione wasn't. She was clearly trying, he'd monitored her meals himself, she was eating healthy and regularly. He had worried she might have an eating disorder or something and kept a really close eye on her, but she didn't. There was something else wrong with her, he knew it. And he was eager to find out what.

xXx

Hermione was sitting on her bed when her friends arrived, let in by Malfoy, and she silenced the room once they had closed the door. They climbed onto bed with her.

"I need wand oaths that what I tell you, you won't ever tell anyone else."

They nodded, drawing their wands. If Hermione asked for that kind of insurance, it had to be big.

Hermione wasn't exactly sure why she wanted to keep her Veela heritage a secret, she just did. She supposed she might not have wanted everyone knowing she was looking for her mate, or that she _should_ be anyway. She certainly didn't want everyone knowing she would die if she didn't find him. And she most definitely didn't want the Prophet getting wind of it and announcing it to the entire wizarding world where they would most likely spin some dramatic romanticized possibly tragic love story. Who knew with them.

"What's going on 'Mione?" Harry asked.

"I- I found out why I've been so...not well lately," she began, unsure how to say it. Best to just do it. Rip it off like a plaster. "I'm part Veela."

Ginny let out a gasp while the boys obviously didn't quite grasp the situation.

"Ok," Ron said. "It's a surprise but what's that got to do with you being sick?"

"You're an idiot Ron," Ginny muttered. "She has to find her mate. Without him she'll die."

Harry paled, but Ron didn't seem all that fussed.

"All right, so we'll just get married or whatever," he shrugged.

Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose. The boy took obliviousness to new heights, or depths.

"You're not my mate Ron," she told him, trying to keep her voice gentle, not that it would really help.

They could see his instant irritation. "How would you know? You haven't even tried."

"I just do Ron. Fleur said I'd know. So I assume that means I would know who isn't."

"So you've just been leading me on?" He demanded.

"No! I did- do like you Ron, I have for ages," she said, hoping to quell some of that anger.

He had to see this wasn't her fault. And she hadn't been leading him on, she hadn't known about this before. If she had, she never would have started anything with him, whether they'd named it or not. It certainly wouldn't have been out of any loyalty to her unknown mate or a sudden desire to find him and be with him. But it wasn't fair to Ron that a part of her, a pretty significant part, wanted or not, belonged to someone else. And even if she did decide to remain mateless, she was only going to die in the end, she had possibly less than a year left. She didn't think Ron should waste his time on her when it was going to go no where.

"Then how do you know it's not me?"

"I just know. I don't know how to explain. I know it isn't you, and I know it isn't Harry."

"Then who is it!?"

"I don't know!" She snapped back.

Honestly, when he got angry he asked the stupidest questions. Ron stormed out. He did what he always did when something didn't go his way.

Silence descended around the rest of them.

"You don't have much time left," Ginny said softly.

"I know."

Ginny clapped her hands together. "Ok, how are we going to find your mate?"

"I'm not sure I want to Gin."

"What!? But you'll die!" Harry was looking at her like she was some kind of idiot and Hermione did not appreciate it.

"I was talking to Fleur this morning. Being a Veela does not sound like a good thing. They're practically slaves to their mates if they turn out to be unkind. I don't want to be controlled. I don't want whoever it is to be able to dangle my life over my head. How is that conducive to a healthy relationship? Not to mention the fact that my mate will have very little choice in being with me. If he has even an ounce of decency, he'll accept only because of the fact he would be letting me die otherwise. That could lead to some pretty bitter resentment. It's not fair on anyone."

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked.

"A Veela's drive to keep their mate happy practically strips that Veela of their choice. They'll do whatever it takes from the sounds of it. What if I ended up with someone like...I don't know, a Death Eater and he asks me to kill Harry or he'll withdraw what I need from him to survive?"

Ginny opened her mouth to reply, then closed it, taking a moment to think about it before opening her mouth again.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as all that," Ginny said weakly.

"Fleur did say it was rare," Hermione admitted begrudgingly. "But it does happen."

"But if you don't, you'll die," Harry said, taking hold of her hand. "How long would you have?"

"Less than a year. But maybe I could come up with something, I was told potions and being healthy can help prolong life for a Veela. Maybe I can just become super healthy, only organic food, plenty of vitamins and minerals, exercise. There has to be a way, this can't be it."

Hermione wasn't sure if she was trying to convince them or herself.

"What if, we find your mate, tie him down and you take what you need?" Harry suggested.

Ginny shook her head. "Doesn't work that way. If he's unwilling, then he's not happy and a Veela can't stand their mate being unhappy."

Harry's brow furrowed. "What happens?"

They all looked at each other, not exactly sure of the consequences of such an action.

"I'll have to owl Fleur about that," Hermione said.

"I'm surprised you're not in the library researching it," Harry noted.

"I just...I don't have the energy Harry. I have homework and Head girl duties and when I'm not doing that, I just want to sleep."

She flopped backwards, landing on her soft pillows.

"How are you getting through classes?"

"Sheer stubbornness?" She shrugged. "By the end of the day I'm absolutely shattered."

"We'll help you as much as we can."

"We'll help you find your mate too," Ginny said. "You never know, it could be someone good for you."

Harry snorted. "Or it could be someone like Malfoy."

"Malfoy isn't so bad," Hermione said, not that she wanted him for a mate.

Harry's eyes practically bulged from his head at her statement.

"He'd still reject me yes, but he wouldn't do it out of maliciousness at least."

"Does it really matter why he does it? The result is still the same."

Hermione nodded. "It matters to me. And besides, I don't like the idea of taking the choice away from someone."

"You could do what Fleur did," Ginny suggested. "She didn't tell Bill about him being her mate until he'd already fallen in love with her."

Hermione tilted her head as she thought it over. That wasn't such a bad idea. Hermione had liked the sound of it when Fleur had mentioned it yesterday.

"I think you should find your mate 'Mione," Harry said. "At least if we know who it is, we can gauge his likely reaction."

Hermione wasn't so sure. If she knew who he was, when the time came she might not be so willing to let herself die, the idea of begging him to save her... Even under the pain of the cruciatus she hadn't begged.

"Do you think Ron will come round?"

"Eventually," Harry assured her.

Hermione needed her friends. If this was to be her last year alive, she didn't want to be at odds with anyone.

Ginny eventually left, and Harry lay down beside her. Though a bit ill and unfocused, Hermione hadn't been blind to the way Harry and Ginny had been interacting with each other. They pretty much hadn't.

"So what's up with you and Gin?"

"Nothing," he sighed. "I just...I don't think I like her like that. But she does and it's kind of awkward." There was a long silence before he spoke again. "Do you think I should give it another chance?"

"It's up to you Harry. Do you really think another chance is going to make a difference?"

Harry smiled to himself. Hermione was the only one to not tell him to go back to Ginny. Everyone else based their reasons on the fact Ginny was hot and Harry would be a fool to pass her up. In Ron's case, he encouraged the relationship with the belief Harry would end up his brother in law.

In Harry's opinion, they were a bit young to be considering marriage he thought.

Poor Hermione though. After all the campaigning she did for House Elf freedom and rights, she was going to be practically just as enslaved as she believed them to be. At least most House Elves had the bliss of ignorance.

"It's just...I think she still kind of hero worships. I know she sees me too, but there's still-"

"I get what you're trying to say," she said. "And yeah to an extent, that hero worship is still there. Not as bad as it was mind you."

Harry nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. "Good, I thought I was the only one who saw it. She's pretty angry though, hardly talks to me any more."

"She'll get over it eventually, both the youngest Weasley's are afflicted with grudge holding."

"But what if she turns the rest of her family against me?"

"Even if you lost the Weasley's, you still have Remus and Tonks and Teddy. Neville and Luna will always be your friends. Besides, just because Ginny's angry with you, doesn't mean the others will be. The twins will always treat you like just Harry. And Mrs Weasley loves you. And you'll have me too."

"I don't want you to die," he said softly.

"I might not, you never know."

"Do you have any idea who it might be?"

"Not a clue. Fleur said a Veela could recognise them by touch, smell, even just sight."

"So that's how you knew it wasn't me or Ron."

Hermione nodded. "I can't think of anyone in the last few years who has affected me in any sort of significant way."

"What about Krum?"

"I guess there's a chance it could be him, but I haven't seen him since before I turned 17, so I wouldn't know."

"Are you going to meet up with him? To test?"

Hermione shrugged. "Right now, all I want to do is sleep."

"No," he said, sitting up and pulling her with him. "You're going to eat, it's almost lunch time. And while we're down there, we're going to try and figure out who your mate is."

Hermione let him drag her towards the door.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not going to recognize them by sight, I've seen everyone here at least once over the past few years. And I'm not about to go around touching and sniffing people."

"I could think of a few guys who probably wouldn't mind you doing that," he grinned at her.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

xXx

Severus sat at the staff table for lunch, forced to by Minerva. He would have much preferred to take his lunch in his private chambers but the woman had told him he was spending too much time locked away, that they hardly ever saw him these days.

He didn't particularly care, nor was he deluded enough to think they actually wanted to see him. Minerva perhaps, they had reached a close friendship over the years, though it had taken a severe beating during the course of his time as Headmaster.

After the truth had come out while he was recovering, safely hidden away in Grimmauld Place, the protective wards all having been recast, his name had been completely cleared and all of a sudden he was a war hero. Likely thanks to Potter and his two little side kicks, possibly not Weasley actually. But Granger and Potter's sense of ethics, honour, justice, whatever, likely would have had them fighting rather ardently for his innocence. And it had been Granger who had saved him in the Shrieking Shack. He owed the damn girl a life debt now. Would he ever be free of all his debts? So far the Granger girl had asked for nothing, not even alluded to the fact she saved his life. He was still on his guard though, waiting for her demand.

Speak of the devil, Potter was practically dragging Granger into the Great Hall now. The girl looked positively dreadful. Her skin was pale, the dark circles under her eyes were becoming more and more prominent with each passing day and she still looked too thin.

He would have thought that after the war, her health would have started to improve. She had looked quite bad at Grimmauld too. She was still top of all her classes he had noticed, but not by as large a margin as she used to and there had been times he'd caught her struggling to maintain her focus. If it got much worse, he might have to approach Minerva. He couldn't have her working on potions in such a state. She would be almost as dangerous as Longbottom.

Severus was pulled out of his thoughts as Trelawney took the seat beside him. He repressed the shudder that threatened to crawl down his spine. The dotty woman seemed to have taken a shine to him since the new school year started. In fact, she was one of many who suddenly found the idea of the dark and mysterious spy for the Order actually rather intriguing.

Severus of course had been taking advantage of that fact, but not without ensuring he was protected. No woman, after a sexual encounter with him, could proceed to spill the details of that night. The last thing he wanted was more of his private life splashed across the Prophet.

But one thing was certain, no matter how drunk or desperate or lonely, he would never touch Trelawney. He quickly turned in Minerva's direction and struck up conversation, hoping to avoid Trelawney talking to him. His scathing insults were often lost on her and therefore, didn't serve their purpose.

xXx

As Harry practically forced Hermione to eat, she glanced around the hall, hoping to pick up something, some inkling of who it might be. Part of her didn't want to know, she figured that was the human in her, the other part was almost desperate to find out. She took that to be the Veela side.

Now that she knew what to call it, the yearning she had been feeling for so long finally made sense. She had assumed it was just a desire to be safe, for the war to be over maybe. She never would have guessed she was just looking for a man. How mortifying.

Hermione Granger did not need a man to make her complete. But her stupid Veela side had messed that up. Her mother had always taught her she didn't need a man to make her happy, but if she found one that did, good for her. Now, Hermione needed one just to stay alive. Where was the fairness in that? This man didn't even have to like her. Even if she found him, there was no guarantee that would be an end to her problems. It could just make things worse. Hermione would classify slavery as worse than death. Was she being dramatic? Possibly. Did she care? Not particularly.

She glanced at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables from her vantage point. There was nothing going off within her when she looked at people. She didn't want to obviously check out the Hufflepuff table behind her.

She picked at a roll, mulling over how she might go about finding her mate while the other half was still denying she wanted to.

Ginny joined them, sitting opposite them and greeting Hermione with a beaming smile. Hermione returned it with a tired one of her own.

"Feel up to a walk around the lake after?" Ginny asked.

"If we go slow," she replied. "The fresh air might do me some good."

Hermione knew Ginny probably wanted to talk to her about something personal if she was offering this. And she was pretty sure it was going to pertain to Harry.

Twenty minutes later found them strolling at a very sedate pace along the edge of the lake. The sun was out, but there was a bit of a cold bite to the air.

"No luck with your mate then?" Ginny asked.

Hermione shook her head. "It's not as if I've been trying very hard."

"Would you really let yourself die?"

Hermione shrugged. "Honestly? I'm still just trying to absorb the shock of it. I don't know what I'm going to do. Would the Veela part of me even let me just give up like that?"

Ginny just nodded. Hermione was really killing the Veela fantasy for her, draining the romance right out of it. Speaking of romance.

"'Mione I...I wanted to ask you about Harry."

"What about him?" She asked, really wishing Ginny wouldn't. But Hermione didn't want to be rude to her friend.

"Has he said anything about me? About why he isn't interested any more? Before the war-"

Hermione shook her head. Harry may have spoken to her about it, but Hermione didn't want to reveal what he had said to Ginny. The girl would likely take to trying to convince him that it wasn't a problem and she didn't want to sic Ginny on Harry like that.

Hermione didn't know if it was a harsh stance or not, but her first loyalty would always be to Harry. Ginny had a big family to support her through any grief or upset. In this instance, Harry couldn't really rely on the Weasley's to be confidantes. They most likely would keep his secrets, some of them, but it would still be awkward.

Harry was her brother, her best friend and would be her flatmate once they graduated. Best not to do anything that might upset him either.

"I think his feelings have just changed Ginny, he's not the same person he was before the war."

"Do you think there's any chance his feelings could change again?"

Hermione inwardly winced. She wasn't any good at these kind of talks. And she didn't want to kill her hope, but at the same time she didn't want to offer false hope.

"Uh...it's not something I would hinge my future on."

Hermione tried to ignore the flash of hurt in the other girl. She didn't want to hurt her feelings but Ginny shouldn't wait for Harry, or just screw around until Harry noticed her like before the war.

Hermione found herself getting breathless and needed to stop, unceremoniously plopping on the ground.

"You ok?"

Hermione nodded. "Just need a bit of a rest."

Hermione didn't want to talk to Ginny about Harry. She just didn't think it was a conversation that could really go anywhere or be had without Ginny getting her feelings hurt.

Both girls sat in silence for a long time, listening to the sound of the lake, the splashes of the giant squid. Hermione lay down on her back, staring up at the clouds instead of the lake. She hadn't done that since she was a child, just sat and watched the sky, maybe pick out shapes in the clouds. Sometimes she really missed her pre Hogwarts days, before the stress of the war and trying to keep Harry and Ron alive. It had been an ongoing thing since she was twelve. Just when she had been looking forward to some rest and relaxation, a bit of normalcy after the hell they'd been through, she learned hell had just followed her right out the other side.

"I think I'm gonna head back up to the tower. Will you be all right by yourself?" Ginny asked.

Hermione restrained her irritation. She wasn't an invalid. "I'll be fine Gin."

She listened as Ginny's footsteps faded. Hermione supposed she really ought to go to the library and find out whatever it might have. Fleur had mentioned one woman who had managed almost a decade without succumbing to the curse of their blood.

All right, she would go there next, after she'd had a bit of a rest, she'd just sit here a few more minutes.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi, so, Kraco, I'm not sure what you mean by stupid stubborn, there is a bit of stubbornness as she believes she's doing things for the right reasons, but I'm hoping it's not stupid stubborn, or ridiculously childish.

Moi - The determining factors for a mate are touched upon in Chapter 5. Yes, there are male veela in my story, part anyway. Lol, I totally thought about the whole oath thing before bonding as well, I've always wondered why I've never seen it any of the Veela stories I've read, maybe I've missed the few that did it too. McGonagall doesn't even really get involved until chapter 6, so you'll have to wait til then for her part and to find out whether or not she meddles.

Nah Draco doesn't shack up with Harry, it's obvious why in this chapter. I have no idea who Harry will end up with, if anyone, so if anyone has an opinion on it, feel free to say - just as long as it's not Ginny.

Thanks for reading :)

Chapter 3

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione struggled back to consciousness and opened her eyes to black clad feet and legs. Her gaze travelled up to find the face of Professor Snape glowering down at her.

"Yes Professor?" She asked, rolling onto her back.

"This is hardly an appropriate place for an afternoon nap," he snapped.

She shakily rose to her feet, brushing the grass likely still clinging to the back of her clothes.

"I hadn't intended to fall asleep," she said. "I'm sorry."

Though, as far as she was aware, it wasn't exactly against the rules. Could he give her detention for this? Hell, he'd given her detention for less in the past.

He eyed her up quite intensely, taking in the paleness of her skin, the bags under her eyes, the very subtle tremble to her hands.

"Get to the hospital wing Miss Granger, you're clearly unwell."

"I've already been to Madame Pomfrey sir, there's nothing she can do for me, it'll...go away on its own."

"Then get back to your dorm and rest. I'm not overly fond of the idea of finding half frozen students out on the grounds."

Now that he mentioned it, it had gotten colder since she had fallen asleep.

Severus had to bite his tongue before spitting out the rather scathing comment he had about dead students and the multitude of paperwork involved. Considering the recent war and the amount of students that died on these grounds, even he recognized the insensitivity of that statement.

"We've lost enough students to the war don't you think?" He said instead. "No need for you to be freezing yourselves to death."

Hermione nodded and headed back up to the castle, not deaf to the foot steps of her Professor behind her. God he unnerved her. She wasn't sure if it was worse when she could see him or when she couldn't.

When they got into the castle she decided to head to the library instead. It was probably time she tried to find out what she could from there, and heading to the library had been her original plan.

"Granger."

She turned back to look at him.

"I believe the Head Dorms are that way." He nodded towards the opposite hallway. "You have potions first thing tomorrow, I expect you to be in better condition than you have been this past week."

Hermione nodded, heading off to her dorm without argument. She could go to the library another time she supposed.

When she got to her dorm, Hermione could only gape at what she saw. Luna was leaving their dorm, Malfoy following her as they were attached at the lips sharing a rather passionate kiss. What the hell!?

When the couple pulled apart Hermione actually felt her face warm up in embarrassment at the heat of their gaze. When had this started!? And how had they been successfully hiding it? There weren't even the usual gossipy whispers about this.

Luna left in the opposite direction and Hermione walked towards Malfoy, a grin splitting her face. Malfoy finally noticed her and realised she must have seen. Hermione opened her mouth, a smart ass comment on the tip of her tongue. But before she could get it out, Malfoy grabbed her arm and dragged her into the common room, firmly shutting the portrait door behind them.

"Not a word to anyone Granger," he said, his voice low.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm not in the habit of gossiping Malfoy."

Something caught her eye and Hermione frowned, reaching out with her finger and wiping at Malfoy's neck, examining the red stain on it.

"Is this blood?" She asked, taking a sniff. It certainly smelt like blood.

"No," he replied quickly.

"Yes it is. Why do you have blood on you?" This was pretty fresh, it was still wet, still warm, there were no wounds on him that she could see.

"It isn't," he argued.

"Yes it is, I can smell it, and I've seen enough blood to know what blood looks like."

Draco said nothing, just staring at her and willing her to forget what she had seen. He was even contemplating obliviating her.

"How did you and Luna become...this?" She asked, changing the subject as she wiped her finger on her jeans.

Should he tell her the truth? Granger was one of the more trust worthy people in Hogwarts. And at least then Luna would have someone to speak to about it without breaking the contract she'd signed.

With a resigned sigh, he decided on the truth.

"I'm going to tell you something, and I want your word, no, I want a wand oath that you won't reveal it to anyone. You can speak to Luna because she already knows."

Hermione drew her wand and made the oath, adding a bit more specificity to it then the pair took a seat on the couch.

"I'm part Veela, I need to-"

"Drink the blood of your mate to survive," she finished for him. "I'm guessing that's Luna."

"Yeah. I realised Luna was my mate while she was...down in the dungeons."

Hermione drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them.

"You must have been terrified she would reject you," she said softly.

"Yeah. Although, at the time, I couldn't have cared less, I didn't think I'd survive the Dark Lord anyway."

"Luna wouldn't have let you die though once she knew."

Draco nodded. "I know that now. I didn't then and I...God you're going to think I'm a monster. I sort of bought her. Well, tried to."

Hermione glared at him. "You tried to _buy_ her?" Her voice was deathly cold.

"It was stupid I know, but I couldn't think of any other way to get her and mother and father didn't want me to die, they probably would have parted with the whole Malfoy fortune just to get her to agree. Turns out, she didn't even want it. She didn't want anything. She even signed the contract without a fuss."

"What kind of contract?" Hermione asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Just saying she wouldn't withhold her blood from me, that she wouldn't manipulate me into doing anything illegal or harmful, stuff like that. You don't know what it's like to be Veela, what it means-"

"I don't know what it's like to be a Veela who has their mate... but a mateless one...I think I'm getting a pretty good grasp of it."

Draco stared at her for a long time, wondering if she was truly saying what he thought she was.

"Mateless..."

"Well, if he's out there I haven't found him yet," she shrugged.

"That's why you've been..." he trailed off.

"Looking like shit?" She asked, giving him a wry grin. "Come on Malfoy, you've never bothered to use tact with me before."

He gave her a half smile. "So you're part Veela too."

Hermione nodded, letting out a huff of air. "Being a Veela sucks."

"Being a mateless Veela sucks," he corrected. Hermione quirked a disbelieving brow at him. "All right, being a Veela sucks. But with the contract Luna signed, my situations not so bad."

Hermione couldn't imaging finding your mate would be all that fantastic without such a contract. If she found her mate would she be able to get him to do the same?

"I suppose you didn't look too cut up about it a few minutes ago," she noted.

"I am still pissed about it, I hate the lack of choice. I certainly never would have chosen Loony for mate if I had one. But it's really hard to stay angry when you're with your mate. Stupid Veela side sort of dominates and it's like having your will taken over by a love sick puppy."

Hermione winced, that didn't sound appealing in the least.

"So who was the Veela in your family?" Draco asked.

"My Grandmother, full blooded, on my mothers side."

"You've kept that pretty well hidden."

"I didn't know, I only found out a couple of days ago."

"Harsh. You'd think your grandmother or your mother at least would have said-"

"They couldn't," Hermione cut him off. "My nana died before ever finding out I was a witch and my mother never manifested either Veela traits or magic. Professor McGonagall said it was likely my magic that activated my Veela gene. So who was the Veela in your not so pure lineage?"

He glared at her for a second at the slight to his lineage, but couldn't really refute it.

"Seven generations ago, a woman, full blooded Veela found her mate in a Malfoy. Their son manifested the gene, and so has every Malfoy since. Clearly we keep it well hidden too."

"Every Malfoy? It doesn't diminish over time?" She asked.

Draco shrugged. "It does for some, it hasn't for ours. I don't think anyone knows how the Veela gene works exactly, I think it has something to do with the strength of a persons magic. It can be stronger in some than others regardless of how far removed from the actual Veela you are. But the majority of people, no matter how diluted their blood, end up in the mate trap."

They both fell into silence for a long time after that, reflecting on their situations. Hermione thought Malfoy was lucky to have Luna for a mate, she didn't have an unkind or manipulative bone in her body and she would see past his mistakes, his name and his fortune. He could be the biggest prat on the planet - which he had been pretty close to being for awhile - and she would still find something good about him.

"For what it's worth, I do hope you find your mate Granger. And that he's not an ass."

"Thanks," she muttered.

Whether she wanted her mate or not, she still appreciated the sentiment.

xXx

Hermione entered Potions class the next morning mentally chanting to herself in an attempt to remind her to focus. To ignore her tiredness, to still her trembling. This class was the most important for precision, she needed a steady hand and a good eye.

And she didn't particularly relish having Professor Snape snapping at her or lowering her to Neville's level. She loved that boy dearly, but he was atrocious in Potions.

Hermione walked to her desk and set down her things, taking her seat beside Neville.

The only reason the class hadn't been thinned down by Professor Snape's high standards was due to Professor McGongall's interference. Potions was now considered one of the core classes along with Transfiguration, DADA and Charms, and as such was now compulsory until one graduated.

Professor Snape now ran an advanced Potions class that consisted of only eight of them, two students from each house and they were allowed to work with more rare and volatile ingredients to make far more advanced potions than what was on the original syllabus.

Professor Snape stormed in per the norm and with a flick of his wand the instructions appeared on the board. A sweeping glare across the students let them know to begin. He didn't even need to tell them to work in silence any more. After seven years, they'd learned.

The silent procession moved in an orderly line to gather their ingredients. Hermione returned to her table and soon lost herself in her work, utilising every trick she had ever learned over the years to keep her mind focused on her task and to keep sleep at bay. She was managing to get through it, not with as much ease as usual but she had been doing ok.

Normally she would never settle for 'ok' but she had decided to cut herself some slack. Technically, she was dying. If one couldn't go a bit easier on oneself in such a case then that was just cruel.

She had to remove her outer robes and roll up her sleeves though, it was getting hot. At least she hoped that was what it was anyway and not something else going wrong with her.

She glanced up as Neville left his work station, headed back towards the store cupboard, having forgotten something she assumed. A moment later a hissing noise started coming from Neville's cauldron, alerting her to the fact something was wrong. She leaned over to get a look just as Snape swept towards her, the noise having caught his attention too. He was only a step away from her when she saw his eyes widen. He reached out and grabbed at her arm, pulling her towards him, turning them away from the cauldron and bending his body over hers, sheltering them beneath his robes. Not a second later Hermione heard the cauldron explode, but it barely registered as she felt magic sweep almost violently through her, originating from the point Professor Snapes hands were holding her arms.

The magic quickly faded and she was left with this humming, like every cell of her body was energized, sensitized. Snape let her go and they stood up straight, he quickly tore away from her and started ripping off his teaching robes. They may have protected them from the initial blast and splatter but they were now being eaten through by the acidic substance that was Neville's potion.

Hermione could only stare at him in complete and utter shock. It was him!

Oh the universe really did hate her.

Severus had flung off his robe and vanished it with his wand, giving the same treatment to Longbottom's failed potion before it started to eat fully through everything. At least it hadn't been a massive explosion, certainly not up to par with some of Longbottom's other failures. Every other student seemed fine, most of the damage was limited to a three foot radius from the cauldron.

He turned back to Miss Granger who was staring at him wide eyed. What was the matter with her? He stepped towards her, taking her wrists in hand and lifting her arms, searching her for sign of injury or potion that might have caught her.

"Are you all right Miss Granger? Did any of the potion hit you?" He asked.

His commanding voice seemed to snap her from her trance.

"N-no. I don't think so."

Draco was suddenly at her side. "I think she should go to the hospital wing and get examined just in case."

He practically dragged her out of class behind him before Severus could even react. What on earth? He let them go, the girl probably should go to the infirmary anyway.

He turned his ire on Longbottom. The boy had once again very nearly injured someone through his sheer incompetence.

xXx

Out in the hall, Draco pushed Hermione into an alcove and warded it for privacy.

"It's uncle Severus isn't it?" He asked.

"What is?"

"He's your mate."

"No he isn't," she denied instantly. This conversation was all too reminiscent of the one they'd had yesterday.

Draco rolled his eyes. "You're such a useless liar. Besides, you started releasing your scent the moment he touched you."

"What!?" She was horrified. "Am I still doing it?"

She started looking all over herself as if she might be able to find the source and stop it.

"No, you're not. It was more like an initial marking, so any other Veela who gets near him will know he's taken."

"But he isn't taken! I'm not going to- I would never-"

"Something wrong with him?" Draco almost snarled it.

His Godfather had played a pretty unsavoury role over the years and copped a lot of flak for it. There was more to him than everyone wanted to see.

"You mean aside from the fact that he hates me?" Hermione felt as if she were going to start hyperventilating and Draco could easily see her rising panic. He let go of the perceived insult against his Godfather for now.

"Come on."

He took her hand and dragged her down the hall, getting her back up to their common room. The walk seemed to have helped her a little and she no longer looked on the verge of a panic attack. He got her seated before summoning a house elf to serve up some tea for them. He offered Granger a cup and let her have some silence to absorb the shock of learning just who her mate was.

When Draco had found out about Luna, despite knowing of his Veela heritage all along, it had still been a shock, a massive upheaval actually. Draco wasn't sure one could ever really be prepared for that realisation. The magic involved was unbalancing, the feeling it left you with afterwards even more so. It was like having a pounding heart beat awakening in every cell of your body and you became hyper aware of everything. Especially everything pertaining to your mate. Their scent, the sound of their voice, their breathing, the touch of their skin.

When he had found Luna, that was when his Veela had truly awakened. His senses had heightened, he had become stronger. His father had told him that was because he needed the strength to both keep and protect his mate.

Would Granger develop inhuman strength as well? The idea almost made him snicker, of some muscle bound Hermione having to protect the wilting flower that was Snape. It was...amusingly disturbing. Snape would never play the damsel in distress and no woman should have that amount of muscle.

Draco didn't really know much about female Veela, in almost every recent generation of Malfoy's there had always only been one son born to the family.

He glanced up at her, she looked much calmer.

"Uncle Severus isn't so bad you know," he offered.

"I know," she agreed. "Underneath it all he seems pretty honourable...very loyal."

"He is. He'd treat you right, he hates the abuse of women."

"I'm not going to tell him Malfoy, and you can't either. Swear it!" She demanded, some of that steel was back in her eyes and voice.

"You want an Unbreakable Vow?"

"I would like to think that as my friend I could trust you with this. That as another Veela, you would understand my need to keep this silent."

She knew she was taking a chance here. Hell, she had even made Harry, Ginny and Ron take wand oaths. But that had more been for insurance against Ron's temper. He could get mouthy and free with other peoples secrets when he was pissed.

"Your friend?" He said it impassively, not revealing whether he was for or against being named such.

"I know we haven't really gotten along for very long, but I would like to think we had become friends."

She was looking away now, he could see she was quite nervous and he sighed. He knew she was sincere, she was very rarely anything but. He had just been a bit worried she might have been using that to manipulate him into complying.

"Do you know why I was made Head Boy?" He asked eventually.

Hermione looked at him then, frowning.

"After the war, you know my parents and I got off pretty much scott free."

Hermione nodded. There had been a pretty big public outcry at that.

"Most of Slytherin House resents me for it," he continued. "A lot of them had family members who either died or went to Azkaban, or they hate my family for turning at the last minute. There had been threats made and mother wanted to pull me from school. Father didn't, and he worked this out with McGonagall. I was made Head Boy so I wouldn't have to sleep in the Slytherin dorms and put myself at risk."

"Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't know-"

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't tell you so you'd get all...you know."

"Then why did you?"

"You, more than most everyone in this school have more reason to hate me after everything that happened to you in my home, at the hands of my family, all the shit I put you through over the years. Yet you were the first person to treat me with any kind of decency. Aside from Luna, but I don't really count her because she's my mate. It could be the pheromones making her nicer."

Hermione gave him a flat look. Luna was nice anyway, pheromones or not.

"Anyway, I'm trying to say...thanks. And...I'll keep your secret. I...I suppose I can be your friend."

He had averted his gaze and gotten very quiet towards the end. Obviously this kind of talk made him uncomfortable. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Draco."

"But I still think you should consider telling him, and I'm going to nag you about it too. You're apparently my only friend, I'd rather you didn't die."

"I can't tell him Draco. He hates me. Besides, I can't do that to him. First he fell in with Voldemort, then shackled himself to Professor Dumbledore. He's spent most of his life in servitude, I'm not going to chain him to another loathsome situation."

"It wouldn't exactly be servitude on his part," Draco reminded her.

"It's still a situation he'd hate."

"You'd really just let yourself die rather than piss off uncle Severus?"

"Pissing him off is just one of the things I want to avoid. I no more want to be mated than he would."

"Come on Granger, have you no sense of self preservation?" Draco asked.

A long silence followed and he could see her hands clenching around the cup she was holding. "I'm scared. Terrified actually."

Her voice was so quiet he had to strain to hear her.

"Of what specifically?" He asked, keeping his voice soft and coaxing.

"I don't want to die."

"Then talk to uncle Severus."

She shook her head. "I can't. If he does reject me, I'll just die sooner and I'd rather live out the rest of the year at least. And if he doesn't reject me, it would only be out of obligation or to avoid the guilt of letting me die. While I think he's a pretty honourable man, him resenting me for the situation is highly likely. It wouldn't be a happy relationship and I'd rather live the rest of the year free, than force both Professor Snape and I to live the next hundred years or so bitter and resentful."

"Have you met the man? He's already bitter and resentful."

"Yes, but I don't doubt he has the capacity to be much worse."

Draco knew she was probably right about that. "So your motives aren't completely altruistic."

"No, I never claimed they were. But when you look at it from every angle, there are more benefits to keeping silent about this."

"Aside from that little drawback of your death."

Hermione glared at him. "As if I need to be reminded."

They lapsed back into a long silence before Draco broke it. "I don't get it, if you're really going to just accept your death, why are you still going through with your education? What's the point?"

"I've worked really hard for my N.E.W.T's. Besides, I'm aiming for the highest marks in Hogwarts history. I've worked hard for this, I'm not going to blow it now. Once I graduate, then I'll live it up and start saying my goodbyes. Discretely though, the only ones who'll know the truth will be you, Ron, Gin and Harry."

Draco said nothing. Now wasn't the time to push it but he would needle her about it for the rest of the year. Maybe he could drop subtle hints to Severus about it. Hermione had asked him to swear not to tell, not that he couldn't leave clues lying around and let Severus connect the dots.

"Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask. How do you drink the blood from your mate? Do you just...sort of..cut them open?"

He stared at her a moment before letting out a short burst of laughter.

"Fangs Hermione. We have fangs," he told her.

Hermione grimaced. They really were like vampires.

"I don't have fangs."

"They'll come out when you need them."

"Professor McGonagall said I wouldn't have any physical changes," she said.

"Pfft. Is she part Veela? I don't think so," he snorted. "Of course you'll have to go through some physical changes, and they're likely to happen now that you've found your mate."

"Like what kind of changes?"

Draco shrugged. "Fangs definitely, but you won't know what else until it happens, until you need it."

Hermione nodded, not sure whether to be excited about it or not. They lapsed into silence again as Hermione just zoned out and tried not to think about it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, one of the reviewers somehow thought that Neville was part of the advanced potions class, I'm not sure of others came to the same conclusion, but just to clarify, he isn't. He's in the regular compulsory class that deals with more simpler potions. The alternative advanced class is something else entirely and he isn't part of it. So I'm sorry if that wasn't clear last chapter.

Thanks for all the reviews, faves and alerts. And sorry for any mistakes I missed.

Chapter 4

After Potions class finished, there was a loud banging at their door. Draco and Hermione had been doing their homework in peaceful silence together after their conversation had fizzled out. They both had a free period next.

Draco sighed. Though he got on with Hermione, he did not get on as well with her friends.

But he did let them in at the look he got from her. The three idiots came busting in, hounding her with questions and drowning each other out to the point they sounded like a garbled mess and nothing coherent could be taken from it.

Draco just gave Hermione a look, one she had actually received from several people over her life time. 'How can you be friends with these idiots?'

Hermione and Draco waited in silence until the other three realised they needed to shut the hell up and ask their questions one at a time. Which actually took longer than Draco had expected. Honestly, how did Hermione keep her wits so sharp when she hung out with this lot?

Hermione looked at Harry when they finally quietened down, giving him permission to ask first.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Fine, same as always."

"Why did _Malfoy_ rush you out of there?" Ron spat, his tone accusing.

"He was just being a concerned friend Ron," Hermione sighed.

Ron glared at Malfoy.

"Well someone had to play the gentleman, it's not my fault your mother didn't raise you better," Draco said.

Ron practically snarled at him and flashed a rather rude gesture.

"Point proven," Draco muttered.

"Guys," Hermione sighed out tiredly, rubbing at her temples to try and stave off the oncoming headache. "Come on. What are you even doing here Ron? I thought you were mad at me."

He let out a huff and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, sorry. You can't really...help it I guess."

Hermione nodded, that was as good an apology as she was going to get, and even then it was likely Ginny or Harry had intervened on Hermione's behalf.

"Well anyway, I'm fine, so you guys don't need to worry."

There was no way in hell she was going to tell them she had found her mate, or who it was.

After a few more questions and reassurances Draco finally lost his patience and told them all to piss off or shut up and do their homework with them in silence. Ron had looked at her, expecting her to defend him.

"Sorry Ron," she said. "But he's right, I really do need to get my work done. Though Draco could have been a bit nicer about it."

She gave the blonde boy a stern glare but he just smirked unrepentantly, continuing on with his work. Ginny and Ron huffed, but did leave, not wanting to get involved in Hermione's homework time.

"All right, what aren't you telling us Hermione?" Harry asked once the others had gone.

He knew her better than anyone, he could tell when she was omitting or hiding things, that had to be why she had avoided him yesterday because she knew he'd pick up on it.

Hermione sighed and flopped back in her seat, glancing at Draco for a second.

"Draco knows about the Veela thing," Hermione said. "And I found my mate today."

She trusted Harry with the information. He was much more level headed these days and he was a tolerant and supportive boy. He still had his bouts of mischievousness, but that was fine, it was good to not take everything so seriously, to not _have _to take everything so seriously.

"That's...great?" He asked.

He knew Hermione hated the whole idea of it, but surely this was a good thing, though, going by the look on her face...

"Christ it's Malfoy isn't it!?" He yelled.

Draco let out a burst of laughter and shook his head in amusement. "She should be so lucky."

"No Harry, it's not Draco," she replied. "It's Professor Snape actually."

"You're having me on."

Hermione shook her head. "Wish I was."

Harry leaned back in his chair. "Shit. I see why you didn't want to tell Ron and Ginny."

Ron would have completely flipped out again and Ginny would have started seduction plans. And there was no way in hell she was going to try seducing Snape.

What if her hormones pheromones whatever came into play to make him more compliant? Was that any different to date rape? She didn't think so.

"I know it's Snape and all, but would you really let yourself die because of him?" Harry asked.

"Come on Harry, think about it logically. It's best for everyone like this."

Harry was on his feet in the next instant, his face twisted in anger.

"No it isn't! It's only best for him. What about the rest of us? Haven't we lost enough friends?"

"Harry, do you really think after everything Professor Snape has done, after everything he's sacrificed, that he deserves another guilt trip, another burden, another tether to something he doesn't want?"

"I don't think you deserve to die either," he said, his anger gone just as abruptly as it had appeared, replaced now by a defeated sadness.

"I know, it's not a situation that's fair on anyone."

"But...are you sure you couldn't be happy together?"

Hermione just shot him a look, one that was clearly questioning his sanity. She wondered if maybe she should have kept this from Harry as well, maybe it would have been kinder to let him think there was nothing that could have been done, that her mate was dead or something.

Harry sat back down, quickly becoming lost in his thoughts as he stared at his best friend, his sister. There had to be something he could do, some way for her to get out of this. He couldn't lose her. He wouldn't. He resolved to go to the library, there had to be something, this couldn't just be it. Hermione had solved most of their problems with a bit of research, Harry would return the favour.

xXx

The next morning Draco was getting ready for classes and came down to the common room to find it empty. Strange, usually Hermione was there, impatiently tapping her foot and glaring at him for hogging their shared bathroom. He would have thought she would have been an earlier riser, but apparently her health had put a stop to that.

Still, she was usually here early enough to complain. So where was she?

He headed up to her bedroom door and knocked, receiving a muffled groan from the other side. He opened it and found Hermione's curtains had been changed to black and the entire room was totally dark.

"Hermione?"

He moved towards the bed, taking in what he could of her from the light coming in through the door. She looked awful.

"Merlin, are you all right?"

"Migraine," she groaned. "Please, shut the door and...whisper."

Just opening her eyes hurt and the flickering lights she kept seeing weren't helping.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked softly.

"No."

He came even closer, noticing how flushed she was and her labored breathing. He rested his hand on her forehead. She was really burning up. He hesitated, thinking over what to do before marching to the floo.

Uncle Severus had had it connected to his quarters in case Draco ever needed anything. Though he'd fulfilled the vow to his mother, his Godfather was still actually protective of him and looked out for him.

"Uncle Sev, I need some pain potions...or something for migraines. And fever too," he said.

"You don't look as if you're suffering from a migraine or fever," he drawled from the other side of the connection.

"It's not for me."

"Then send whatever _lady friend_ you managed to acquire for the night off to the hospital wing. It is no concern of mine."

Severus knew all about the Malfoy's and their Veela heritage, but he didn't know Draco had yet found his mate. His father would probably tell him at some point, but for now, uncle Severus still believed Draco to be the play boy he was before the war.

"It's not like that. It's for Granger. She looks real bad uncle Sev."

Severus mentally debated with himself a moment. Though not a medi wizard, he did have some medi wizardry training to get his Potions Mastery. And he often suffered from migraines as well, a trip to the infirmary would be torturous.

"Fine," he snarled it out before heading to his personal stores.

After selecting a few he thought would help, he flooed through to the heads dorms and stalked into Miss Granger's room where she was buried amidst her blankets and pillows. Her face was flushed and perspiration was beading on her forehead. Her eyes appeared glazed as she looked up at him. He placed a hand against her forehead, feeling her temperature. She really was burning up. He pulled away when he felt her try to weakly press herself into his touch.

Severus took a seat on the side of her bed, setting out the potions on her bedside table.

"Miss Granger, I need you to sit up a bit and drink these potions."

He kept his voice quiet, but still with a commanding edge to it and she began to obey though he had to help her sit up. Her skin felt like it could almost burn his own. He handed her the potions one by one as she drank them back.

Once she had taken them all, he helped her lie back down, vanished the empty vials and left the room. As he passed Draco on his way out, the boy stopped him.

"Will she be all right?" He asked.

"Yes. And I will inform her other professors not to expect her in class."

Draco nodded and Severus vanished through the floo. Draco gave Hermione one last glance, wondering whether or not he should stay with her. She might need help during the day. Maybe he should get Potter instead, he was more likely to be trusted with her.

He decided that was a better course of action. He left, grabbing up his bag on the way out and headed off to the Great Hall, hopefully Potter would be there.

He was, and he was on his own. Perfect. Draco made his way over, leaning down so he could speak quietly, he didn't want the few around to over hear, and so Potter would hopefully follow suit if he decided to start asking questions.

"Hermione's pretty sick," Draco told him. "She has a fever. Severus has already given her some potions, but I'm not sure she should be left alone."

Potter was on his feet before Draco could even finish speaking. Draco had to grab him and stop him, scowling at the other boys glare for doing so.

"Don't get snitty," Draco snapped. "But you won't be any good to her without the password to our dorm."

He had the decency to look a little chastened at that at least. "Sorry."

"It's...Prison Sex."

Potter looked like he was about to laugh.

"Blame Granger, it's her favourite song."

Draco stalked towards the Slytherin table and Harry rushed out to get to Hermione.

Was she getting sicker because of her blood? Would she be able to get better? What if she didn't have as long as they thought she did?

When he got to her room, he pulled up a chair. She was asleep and she felt hot to the touch. But Malfoy had said she had already been medicated. Hopefully the potions would continue to work.

He summoned Winky and asked her to go to the library and discretely bring him a few books she could find about Veela, he needed to start his own research and now seemed an ideal time.

xXx

At lunch time, Severus avoided the Great Hall and headed to his quarters after class. He needed to check on Miss Granger to be sure the potions were taking effect. He of course would tell no one. He didn't want them to think he was actually concerned. Though he could admit to himself that he was a bit. He owed this girl, a lot.

He had still been waiting for her to come up to him and try to force him into something in return, or to mouth off to the Prophet about how she saved war hero Severus Snape. He was now coming to realise, she wouldn't do something like that.

If he took away his antipathy for her annoying know it all habits, he could see she was a kind hearted, loyal and discrete girl. She had certainly never blabbed to the papers about Potter's life or movements despite the fame and attention it would garner. If he looked back on things objectively, the girl was never one to place herself in the spot light, unless she was in class and flaunting her knowledge, but even that had stopped this year.

Though of course, there would always be that small part of him that would never be able to let it go and would always wait for her to call it in. And whether she acknowledged the debt or not, it was still there, weighing almost as heavily as the Dark Mark he once bore.

He entered her room and froze momentarily as he saw Potter sitting in a comfortable armchair beside her bed, absorbed in a book.

He looked up at Severus' entrance.

"What are you doing here?" It was out before Harry could even stop himself.

"I believe the more pertinent question is what are you doing here? You have missed all your morning classes."

"I couldn't leave her on her own, Malfoy said she was really sick."

"If Miss Granger needs anything, I'm sure she can summon a house elf."

"She isn't in much condition to do anything. But sir, why are you here?" He asked, with a bit more respect than he had before.

"To make sure the potions I supplied her with were working," he snapped in reply.

The only reason he bothered to explain it was because he would rather Potter not spread around that he had shown up in Miss Granger's bedroom and refused to state a purpose. The boy would likely make up reasons of his own imagining.

Severus came forward and checked the girl over, again pressing his hand to her forehead. It was still hot, but she didn't feel as bad as she did earlier. But again, she sighed in contentment and pressed herself into his touch. Her eyes opened and she actually smiled up at him. Clearly she didn't recognize who he was or she would not be smiling.

"How are you feeling Miss Granger?"

"Better sir."

She was still smiling at him and Harry just knew she was being affected by the Professor's presence. Or her Veela part anyway. If she had been in her right mind she would be putting up more of a fight against it he was sure.

Severus looked at her like she was mad, it must have been the fever making her act so strangely. As he shifted his hand away he was overwhelmed with the most intoxicating scent he had ever encountered. It was vanilla and...something. He couldn't describe it. He looked down at Granger, who was still smiling at him. It was coming from her he was sure of it. Before he even realised what he was doing, he was leaning towards her, breathing deeper of that addictive scent.

A cough from the Potter boy snapped him from his trance. He was quite sure he caught a flash of irritation in Granger's eyes too. Severus looked at Potter who was watching the scene with confusion and concern. What had he been just about to do? He wasn't even sure... Severus straightened, instantly regretting the distance between himself and Hermione and unsure of why. What was happening to him? He stalked out, letting Potter know she seemed fine. He quickly left their presence, her presence, and each step away from her was almost painful.

Harry had watched the awkward scene, he was sure Snape had been about to kiss her or something with the way he was leaning towards her and intensity of his gaze. He had been reading about Veela all morning, he knew about their pheromones, the way they released their scent in an effort to draw their mate to them. Was that what Hermione had done? It was something only their intended mate would be able to smell, or other creatures with a heightened sense of smell. Werewolves, Veela, Centaurs...

Snape would not be pleased when he found out. God he was likely to kill her! Maybe... But then, if he just let her die, technically his hands would be clean.

Harry respected everything Snape had done for the Order, for the cause and did feel guilty for misjudging him so terribly in the past, but Harry did know the man was not kind, that he could actually be quite cruel. Harry thought it highly likely Snape could justify letting Hermione die to himself and not lose any sleep over it. Whether or not that was another overly harsh misjudgement, Harry didn't know, but nor did he care right now.

He looked over at Hermione who seemed subdued at Professor Snape's exit.

"'Mione..."

He didn't know what to say. The idea of his best friend, his sister practically, with Snape, was a pretty off putting one. But if she didn't, she would die. He knew he would rather see her with Snape than die, but he couldn't bring himself to go behind her back and tell Snape of his mate status.

Maybe, if she got much worse and he couldn't handle watching her die, he would suck it up and do it. As it was, he still wasn't completely convinced there wasn't a way around it.

"Harry I...I need some water please," she said, her voice still a bit scratchy.

He was on his feet instantly and leaning over her, helping her sit up and get some water into her. When she'd had her fill, he helped her lie back down.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I need a hug."

She sounded so vulnerable in that moment, not at all like the Hermione he was used to. Even after her torture at Malfoy Manor, she had seemed to just swallow it down and move on. They had things they needed to do and people depending on them, she didn't have time to fall apart and so she hadn't let herself.

He knew she still had nightmares about it, he had tried to comfort her through them, but even then, there was still this strength in her, but right now... she just looked lost and broken. Was it because her mate had walked away from her? Was this what they would be dealing with now? Or was she more susceptible because of her weakened state?

He climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, trying to impart what comfort he could. She sighed and snuggled into him, closing her eyes. This wasn't the first time they had been like this, he had often slept with her after her nightmares, or his own. They had been the only two at Grimmauld Place, they'd needed each other.

Maybe he should talk to Fleur himself? Find some other Veela maybe. There had to be more, there had to be some who found a way out.

xXx

A/N: Yeah! Prison Sex by Tool! Awesome song.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

In the weeks following her fever, Hermione had adapted a routine to help her cope. It had been a somewhat eventful three weeks since then, fraught with other illnesses and the establishment of her medication regimen. There had been some trial and error with the dosages and the reactions some of them had with the others.

But the amount of potions she was on now, were a Godsend.

She had worked out a regime with Madame Pomfrey and they had come up with a veritable cocktail of potions for her to help with her appetite and the migraines which were now a regular occurrence, among other things. She had no negative reactions any more, but the weekends were reserved for detoxing. She found it some what ironic that she had to take a potion to flush all the other potions out of her system.

Hermione may have been against the idea of potions and such on a regular basis, but she was going to die anyway, why struggle through what time she had left?

Harry had been accompanying her to the hospital wing every morning, and had been sleeping in the Heads dorms with her sometimes. Harry had stayed with her through out her fever, taking care of her, even reading to her at times when he had found something interesting in the books he was reading about Veela. With the way that boy was going he was going to be an expert on Veela soon.

Hermione slid off the hospital bed, having taken all her potions. Normally Madame Pomfrey would be against such a thing too, but it wasn't going to be a permanent situation and Headmistress McGonagall had approved the action. No one mentioned that Hermione was basically accepting her death, it was an upsetting topic so they all stayed right away from it.

It still didn't feel entirely real to Hermione. Even before this she knew she would die one day, and even though she knew her 'one day' wasn't as far off as she would have liked now, it still didn't feel like a reality. Especially not when she was on the potions, she could feel quite great at times, like nothing was wrong with her.

Hermione met Harry at the door, giving him a smile. She really was functioning better with all these potions designed to do just that. She wasn't tip top, but she was functioning.

Harry looped his arm with hers and escorted her to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"So..." Harry began. "I was reading-"

Hermione let out a laugh. "That still sounds like the start of a joke."

Harry just gave her this half amused glare. "And I was reading what attracts a Veela to a mate."

Hermione looked up at him, curious to hear this actually. But Harry's smug expression and how he looked like he wanted to burst into laughter filled her with a sort of dread.

"So what is it?" She pressed.

"Traits they want passed on to their children is a pretty big deciding factor," he said.

Hermione winced. That's right, a Veela had the almost animal instinct to find a suitable mate and procreate.

"In a males case," Harry continued. "It's looking at what kind of mother they would be, nurturing, kind, I don't know...child bearing hips? Didn't really go into details. In a females case it's how well their mate would protect their children, loyalty...that kind of thing." He laughed now. "So what was it about your...mate that you wanted passed onto your children?"

It was Hermione's turn to glare. "I'll have you know there are a lot of admirable traits about him that would be good for passing down to children. He's bloody brilliant Harry, even you can't deny that."

"Then why don't you give it a shot?"

"Because a few admirable traits don't necessarily add up to a good man. Wait, that was harsh. He is a good man but he's not a kind one, and- We've already been through this Harry. It's not going to happen," she snapped.

He let that line of discussion drop, and went back to discussing the other factors in a Veela's choice of mate. The strength of magic was one, scent was another, apparently a Veela could get a feel for a mans virility through it. Hermione had wrinkled her nose at the thought of Snape's virility.

She had no idea what kind of father he would make, he didn't seem to like children much at all. But then, maybe it would be different with his own. Hermione recognized that voice as her Veela side. It was all about seducing Snape and making babies. She loathed it with every fibre of her non Veela being.

They entered the Great Hall and took a seat at the Ravenclaw table, sitting with Luna, Ron, Neville and Draco. They had taken to shifting tables so Luna and Draco wouldn't be so isolated. Ginny sat with them sometimes, but there was still an awkwardness between her and Harry that sort of brought the mood down for everyone.

Hermione had found herself much closer to Luna as she had questioned her about what it was like to be the mate of a Veela. She had also been let in on some of the details to that contract. It was magically binding, there weren't any repercussions for Luna if she tried to disobey it, she just wouldn't be able to, the magic would make her incapable of uttering the words or taking the actions. Luna had signed it without a fuss because she would never do something like that to anyone anyway.

Hermione and Harry sat opposite Luna and Draco and between Neville and Ron. Luna and Draco weren't outed as a couple yet, but the fact that they were friends was now public knowledge.

"Morning," Hermione greeted.

Everyone in their small little group knew of her Veela status, but Hermione trusted them implicitly with the knowledge. It was still only Harry and Draco who knew about Snape though.

And Neville had a cousin who was part Veela and Hermione had thoroughly questioned him about their relationship too. Apparently being part Veela wasn't so uncommon. They were still a minority of course, and there were some people who had Veela blood in their ancestry but never manifested the traits.

If Hermione had more time, she would probably look more into it, try and figure out just how it worked, but as it was, she would rather just focus on her exams, get the highest scores in Hogwarts history, then completely blow the rest of her time being ridiculous.

She had started her own bucket list, Harry had been helping her write it, because he was going to go through it with her. They had the usual things on there, sky diving, bungee jumping, travel, try dope at least once, they were going to do that once they hit Amsterdam. And Hermione didn't really want to die a virgin, so she was considering taking care of that too. That would be the hard one, her Veela railed against the very idea of intimacy with anyone other than Snape. She wouldn't be overly fussed if that one didn't get crossed off, much like the bungee jumping really. That one had been Harry's idea.

The group ate their breakfast, talking quietly amidst each other, discussing classes and homework. When Neville brought up plans for after graduation, the rest of them sort of hushed and looked at her from the corner of their eyes.

"Don't do that," she said, scowling at them all as she continued eating. She would rather them just continue on like nothing was out of the ordinary. "What were you going to say Nev?"

Conversation resumed, but it was a bit stilted.

Hermione focused more on eating rather than listening to the others go on about their future careers. Though she wanted them to act normally, it still hurt to hear about them going on about a future she would never get to have.

Hermione glanced up at the head table, her eyes immediately landing on Snape as they had been since she found out what he was to her. She blamed her Veela, she was drawn to him and it was irritating as hell. That war within her between her Veela side and human had escalated exponentially. Draco had told her it was normal, that she would continue to be drawn to him until he was hers. There was little to nothing she could do about it except be her usual stubborn self and try to resist it.

She forced herself to look away, it wouldn't do for him to catch her staring. But just like other meals, her eyes continuously drifted no matter how many times she tried to reign in her gaze. The faint hint of his scent didn't help either. Though she sat at the opposite end of the room, she could still catch it with her heightened sense of smell.

Conversation shifted to what they were going to be doing for the Christmas holidays, and since Hermione could actually participate in this conversation she tuned in to it.

She was planning to go to Oz to see her parents. Even if they didn't remember her, she still wanted to be connected to them, and she couldn't die without seeing them again.

She was making preparations for her sibling too. She would be getting in touch with a lawyer and Gringotts. The monetary reward from her Order of Merlin, what was left of it would go to that sibling should he or she be magical, as well as all the information that child, and her parents would need. She was already composing the letters, they would explain everything, she intended to leave pensieves too to help prove her story.

But this would all only take place if that child ended up being magical too. She didn't think he or she should grow up without the important information that Hermione had been deprived of. The Veela thing specifically. But also magic in general. She wanted the child monitored, if its magic manifested, the family would be contacted immediately and informed. It was all she could do for her little sister or brother.

There were times she imagined being here, to help guide the kid through the magical world, that she had been able to reverse the memory charms and her family was back in England. She would teach the child magic, teach it all about the magical world, be there for their first trip to Diagon Alley, impart all the secrets of Hogwarts they had learned over the years.

It would never come to pass, but at night, when sleep eluded her, due to the over load of potions mainly, it was a nice thing to fantasize about. Of course, she had to push aside the fantasies her Veela side was conjuring of happy families with Snape.

There had even been times she had been plagued with more...erotic day dreams, or sometimes just dreams. The disturbing thing was, Hermione wasn't finding them disturbing enough.

Like most girls, Hermione'd had the obligatory crush on the only teacher who wasn't ancient or female.

Back in third year Hermione had had the biggest crush on Professor Snape after he had put himself between them and Professor Lupin after he had transformed. He had protected them, seemingly without a second thought, despite how much he despised them and all the trouble they caused him.

Before that, there had been Lockhart, but she refused to even travel down those memories.

"'Mione?"

She snapped out of her thoughts, not having realised she had trailed off mid sentence.

"You ok?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded.

"We should probably get going to class," Neville suggested.

xXx

Hermione made it through the day much easier now with her potions. It could never be a long term solution though, not only for the dependence it created, but also because, although she felt better, internally, the deprivation of her mates blood - and apparently the sharing of their souls if she believed Fleur and some of the books she and Harry had read - was wreaking havoc.

The first thing to go would be her immune system and she would become more susceptible to illness. She was on potions for that, but it couldn't protect against everything. And since that fever a few weeks ago, she'd had a mild bout of food poisoning, and a cold. Her body's natural defences just weren't up to par, even with the boost from the potions.

She already suffered from fatigue and migraines, though those were suppressed with the pepper up and pain potions.

Eventually, her body would just start to shut itself down, her organs would fail, it would be a long and painful process. She was already planning how she was going to deal with that. There were numerous poisons that would take care of her quickly, few could do it painlessly and she would probably need a Potion Masters help with which ever one she chose.

Or, she could brew the Draught of Living Death, put herself into such a deep sleep, and allow her blood to completely ravage her inside out until she died for real. She had already decided to just disappear and do it alone. Maybe leave Harry with instructions on where to find her and what she wanted done with her remains. Or maybe just cremate her while she was still under the influence of the draught.

She was afraid of death, or how much it would hurt, but she had heard that the draught would allow her to just sleep through it. She would never feel a thing. It was an appealing idea. Still, nothing was set in stone yet. And there was still this irrational part of her hoping Snape would somehow figure it out and come and make everything better.

Hermione cringed, leaving her last class of the day and being hit with the all too familiar scent of her mate.

Hermione quickly ducked into an alcove and sunk low, closing her eyes and trying to drown out the sensations the proximity of her mate gave her.

It was always like this, every potions class, even in the Great Hall despite the fact they sat at opposite ends of the apparently not long enough room. She was so sensitized to everything about him. But it was always his scent that hit her first and would try to send her control into a tailspin.

There had been moments she had needed to induce physical pain to stop herself from jumping him. Her fangs had even manifested once as her mind wandered to biting him, tasting him. The Veela side of her feeding her images and false sensations of what it would be like, feel like.

She took out her wand and disillusioned herself, it wouldn't do for him to pass her and notice her having a mini breakdown at his mere presence. She had asked Draco for ways to cope with it, but his Veela had never had the chance to get so desperate. His urges hadn't been as strong as hers seemed to be because she was leaving it so long.

She heard him pass her, even fancied she could hear his heart beat. Whether that was true or not she couldn't be sure. Eventually his scent faded away and she managed to get herself back under control.

She couldn't even enter Potions class without being heavily dosed with Calming Draught and a potion that rendered her sense of smell useless. His scent and his voice affected her the most, but she couldn't do without her hearing, if anyone realised, that would only bring up questions. The potions for her sense of smell and the Calming Draught were the ones she had to brew on her own. She couldn't let Madame Pomfrey find out about her mate, because she would tell Professor McGonagall. And that would open a whole mass of other problems.

Hermione got back to her dorm where Harry and Draco were already there, playing checkers, Ron watching the game with a mix of curiosity and disgust. Hermione had taught Malfoy to play checkers with the chess set because it was a game both her and Harry had an advantage with. It seemed strange to her that they could do so well at checkers, but be so bad at chess. She would have thought they were along a similar vein. Ron did not like checkers, calling it a bastardized and lesser version of chess. Who knew the boy could be such a snob about a board game?

The boys hardly spared her a glance as she entered. Their last class of the day had been the period before, so they had part of the afternoon off. The three were getting along quite well these days, though they still sniped at each other. It just contained less venom than it used to. Although Draco and Ron had a tendency to end up in some pretty heated arguments. Harry was usually able to calm them down if Hermione wasn't around. The three had taken to hanging out in the dorms with some frequency even when she wasn't around.

Hermione flopped down on the sofa, releasing a breath.

"All right 'Mione?" Harry asked. She let out a non committal groan and watched their game. "Think you'll be up for the Hogsmeade visit this weekend?"

Hermione nodded. The weekend was her detox period, where she went without potions and gave her body time off from them, flushed her system of them and spent the weekend resting. She would just have to stay on them for Saturday and detox and rest on Sunday.

"Actually Draco, I was wondering if you could do me a huge favour."

Draco looked at her warily. "What?"

"Do you think I could talk to your father?"

"What do you want to talk to _him_ for?" Ron asked, his tone even more disgusted than his expression had been about checkers.

Draco just glared at him a second before responding to Hermione. "About?"

"The Veela thing, what else? Normally I wouldn't ask, but you haven't been very helpful. And your father has obviously had a lot more experience with it than you...well, anyone I know actually."

"I'll owl him and ask," Draco said, refocusing on the game.

Hermione hadn't actually seen Malfoy Sr since she and Harry had vouched for the Malfoy family at trial. For the fact Draco had lied and pretended he had no idea who they were when they were brought in, for Narcissa lying to Voldemort about Harry being dead, and for telling what they had witnessed: That the Malfoys had seemed to be prisoners in their own home and none of them had really done anything against them in the final battle.

Their testimony had completely cleared Draco and Narcissa, and saved Lucius from Azkaban, if not probation. Still, probation was much better than Azkaban.

Draco figured his father would agree to meet Hermione, since technically, he did owe her and Potter. Malfoys did not like owing debts.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: **IMPORTANT Please read - **I changed a few things in chapter 5 today as well, so you may need to go back and read it. I was looking over some of my other wip's and have come to see a theme - I really don't like Ron and Ginny so I tend to write them out of a story very early either by killing them off or making them jerks. I'm going to stop doing that now and save it for when it's actually plot necessary. So I've changed that aspect in chapter 5. It's probably pretty shitty to be doing that just coz I don't like them. Not proud to be admitting I've been doing it - more than I even realized I had been - but still, I'm gonna fix it.

Anyway thanks for all the reviews and your guys takes on the life debt thing. They've given me heaps of ideas for how to go about dealing with the life debt thing in my other wip's. So thanks heaps as. :)

xXx

**Chapter 6**

Saturday rolled around and Hermione was beginning to feel nervous about meeting Draco's father. Her dorm mate had told her yesterday that Malfoy Sr had agreed to meet her at the Three Broomsticks during their Hogsmeade weekend.

This was the man she had fought in the Department of Mysteries, who's home she had been brought to for torture, who had watched and done nothing.

Truth be told, even if they didn't have that less than stellar history behind them, Hermione had always found the man intimidating by sheer presence alone and she'd only seen him a handful of times prior to her fifth year.

She was walking with Harry arm in arm, Draco and Ron either side of them. Draco was going to meet Luna later. Ron and Harry would most likely head for the Quidditch store or something. For now, they were all going to the Three Broomsticks to wait for Draco's father. Hermione wanted to speak to him alone when he arrived, but the boys would wait with her until then.

They picked a table near the back corner and Hermione discretely warded it for privacy. They chatted and shared Butterbeer until Hermione saw Mr Malfoy enter. He was a difficult man not to notice.

His piercing eyes immediately landed on them when Hermione dispelled the wards for a moment and she had to resist the urge to shrink away. He headed right over and sat. Harry was able to greet him with civility though he was still reserved about it, and clearly hesitant about leaving Hermione alone with him.

Ron just glared at him and made no move to greet the man. But at least he didn't start spitting insults at him. That was something.

Draco greeted him with a bit more warmth, though there was still a distance between them, Hermione figured that was because they were in public. Draco had tried to tell them his father wasn't everything he appeared.

Draco gave Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze before he left, noticeable enough for his father to pick it up. It was his subtle way of letting the man know Hermione was important to him and he would appreciate it if he treated her with some respect.

The boys left her and Hermione wondered if it really was a good idea to go this alone. She had been hoping he might be a bit more forthcoming with less of an audience.

"Thank you for coming Mr Malfoy," she began.

He gave a nod. "I admit, I'm curious as to what this could entail."

"Would you like a drink or something first?"

"No, just get on with it," he said.

Hermione took a breath and gathered her thoughts. "Draco told me about the Veela in your bloodline."

She saw the way his eyes darted around at her words.

"Don't worry, I've warded the area around us, no one can hear or see what we're saying, and we're under a notice-me-not charm," Hermione tried to reassure him.

"And what has that to do with why I am here? If you are looking to extort-"

"No no," she cut him off. "That's not why I wanted to speak to you at all. I just...I wanted information. I recently found out that I have Veela blood and I learned who my mate was a few days ago and well, he hates me, despises me with a conviction that's borderline religious really. So I can't tell him. I need to know how to control the impulses I get around him and you seemed like the perfect person to go to, I can't think of anyone who comes off as more in control than you and you've had a lot longer than Draco to deal with it so you might have more helpful advice that I-"

"Cease your babbling Miss Granger, I understand what you are asking of me and I will impart my knowledge if you will but shut up."

Lucius knew he owed her something, hell, most of the Wizarding world owed the trio something. And she had befriended his son when no one else would. All she was asking for was information, while information was an important thing in itself, it was easy enough for him to give her.

Besides, appearing to be on good terms with her would likely work out for the better in terms of his public image.

As for his personal feelings about the girl... She was no longer a mudblood he supposed, not that he would ever utter that word out loud, not with the current political climate. Veela were a species with a magic all their own, completely different from wizards. But the girl was closer to a hybrid than a mudblood. So her blood no longer disgusted him, he just found her insufferable because of who she was then. Whether that was better or not, he wouldn't waste his time thinking on it.

"If I tell you what I know, that will make us even. Deal?"

Her brow furrowed. "I never considered us...uneven. I was hoping you'd tell me because it would be the decent thing to do."

Lucius couldn't help it, he let out an amused chuckle. At the affronted and perplexed look on her face, it became more of a laugh. He just found it quite amusing to see this girl, who had been through and suffered so much, still be so naive.

He had never done anything because it was the decent thing to do. And certainly no one was stupid enough to ever let such a thought cross their mind. Brightest witch of the age indeed.

"Miss Granger, if I have the answers to your questions, I will give them to you. Not because it is the 'decent' thing to do, but so we will be even. Deal?" He pressed.

Hermione nodded. She would take what she could get.

"Ask your questions then Miss Granger, I have it under good authority you usually have a multitude of them."

Hermione tried not to scowl at him for the superior tone of voice and the dismissive wave of his hand. Her nervousness had dissipated at least, leaving her feeling annoyed with Mr Malfoy's behaviour. He had this innate ability to infuriate without even really doing much. Draco had it too.

"Ok, well thanks," she didn't want to be rude and have him up and leave without getting to ask anything. "How do you ignore the presence of your mate?"

"You can't," he replied simply. "It's impossible. Even if you are bonded to them, you are always aware of them."

"Is it...is it like being dosed with love potion?"

"No. As I said, you're always aware of them, and they will cause certain sensations within you, but to an extent, your will is still your own."

Even he knew it was inappropriate to be discussing the various states of arousal a mate could cause with their mere presence. He would have to word things delicately and hope she understood, he had no desire to be discussing such things with her of all people.

"Isn't there something that can be taken to alleviate...it?" She asked, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Calming Draught is your best friend Miss Granger."

"That's it? There's nothing else?"

His face took on a contemplative expression for a moment. "There is something that can help, it can also prolong how much time you can survive without your mate, though not by much."

Hermione's eyes widened and she leaned forward. "But everyone - even the books say nothing can help with that."

"The amount of actual _fact_ available to the mainstream public about Veela would barely fill a thimble. And because those who carry diluted Veela blood manifest their traits differently, it makes it more difficult to pin down the facts."

"Ok, so what is this thing then?"

"The blood of another Veela, a recently...sated Veela."

"How would that work?"

"From what I understand, the blood you drink is absorbed into your own, it is able to fool your body into thinking it is not being denied what it needs. It works much like the way the body absorbs nutrients from food. It is only a temporary solution, eventually the potency wears down as with most things."

"Why doesn't anyone know about this?" She asked.

"I told you did I not? Now two people know."

"Why isn't it in the books? How come Draco-?"

He cut her off with a raised hand, commanding her silence.

"Draco had no need to know, his mate doesn't hate him," he said, allowing a smug smirk at the dig. "As for the books, there is still a lot of stigma attached to the sharing of blood Miss Granger. Those outside of Veela relationships aren't even entirely sure it is blood that is needed. I'm sure you've heard the fairy tales, many are content to believe them."

Hermione nodded, getting lost in thought. A recently sated Veela's blood... She hated the idea of drinking blood though. Her mates or otherwise.

"If you are going to approach Draco about this-"

"I'm not," she interrupted, knowing it would irk him a little. "I'm not going to feed off someone else just to survive. It's one of the reasons I'm so against this whole thing in the first place."

She took a sip of her drink, debating which question to ask next. "What about the pheromones or whatever they are, how do you stop releasing those?"

"You can't until you are mated. Even then, if you feel your relationship is under threat or your mate is discontent, you will begin releasing them again."

"There's no way to control it?"

"Sheer will power. Even then it is difficult. I myself have managed to an extent, but some things are beyond even my control."

Damn. Hermione moved on to other subjects. It was good to have someone who had lived so long with this, she was able to wade easier through the crap and the fact.

xXx

At the end of their talk, Hermione was surprised when the man actually escorted her to the door. Even going so far as to offer his arm. Not wanting to be rude after how helpful he had been, Hermione had taken it.

Lucius himself was surprised at how well this afternoon had gone. He had come here expecting to have demands placed upon him, perhaps even her wanting some kind of apology, instead, she had wanted information and he had managed to make several digs at her in the process of giving her what she wanted. It might have been petty, but it had also been amusing. And now his duty to her was done and he could gladly spend the rest of his life avoiding her. Though that was looking to be less likely considering her friendships with his son and the boys mate.

Severus was just leaving the Apothecary when a most peculiar sight caught his attention. Miss Granger was being escorted out of the Three Broomsticks by none other than Lucius Malfoy. They were speaking, and she even flashed him a grateful smile. What on earth?

He made his way over, suspicious about this little meeting. Lucius spotted him heading over and he nodded in greeting.

"Severus."

"Lucius."

Severus fixed his gaze on Granger who was staring up at him with a strange expression on her face, almost a grimace mixed with...fear possibly? It was difficult to tell. Lucius suddenly let out a chuckle, drawing the attention of the other two.

Severus was her mate! Lucius couldn't help but find even more amusement in this. It was no wonder she couldn't tell him. Were he a lesser man, Lucius would be doubled over with laughter. The way the girl was pumping out her scent it was amazing Severus wasn't taking her up against the wall.

"I have to go. Thank you for your time Mr Malfoy. Bye Professor," Hermione muttered, quickly scurrying off without waiting for a reply.

Lucius didn't miss the way Severus seemed to breathe a little deeper as she brushed past him. He doubted Severus even realised what he was doing. Oh he would be mortified beyond belief if he ever learned of any of this. Perhaps once Miss Granger passed on, he would inform his friend.

The thought quickly sobered him. He could not do that to Severus. The man would still carry the guilt around with him, whether he was in a position to do something about it or not. Quite hard on himself that one. Shit...this information had just put him in a rather awkward position. This was something Severus would want to know. But Lucius didn't really want to tell him. The man was one of his few friends, hell, probably his only friend. While he may not do the 'decent' thing for others, he could count on one hand those he would do it for. And Severus was one of those.

"Care for a drink Severus?"

The dark man nodded and they headed off to the Hogs head rather than the Three Broomsticks. Lucius would have to think on where to go from here. Miss Granger still had time, Lucius didn't have to do anything about it today.

xXx

The next morning Hermione took her detoxing potion and lay back down. On the weekend she rarely got out of bed unless it was to go to the toilet. She usually couldn't handle eating anything either. If she was feeling up to it, she would do a bit of reading or homework. But usually she tried to make sure she had everything done before the weekend.

Hermione rolled over, snuggling deeper into her blankets. It was getting colder now. She was rather looking forward to spending Christmas in Australia. It would be nice and warm over there. Maybe too warm?

She usually preferred cold, it was easier to warm yourself up rather than cool yourself down. But with warming charms and cooling charms those kind of worries were a thing of the past.

There was a light knock on her door. She groaned out a barely comprehensible 'go away' but the door was pushed open anyway.

She cracked open an eye and watched Draco approach her bed, the Prophet clutched in his hand.

"You should probably see this," he said.

He was looking far too serious for her liking. "Now I know I really don't want to."

She closed her eye and pulled the duvet over her head.

"Since when was avoidance part of something you do?"

"Since life became too short to worry about everything," she replied, her words muffled from within the blanket.

"Just take a look, this is probably going to come back to bite you in the ass with the whole Veela thing."

"Wow, that was enticing."

"Sarcasm Hermione? Leave it to the professionals."

She heard him place the paper by her and she sat up, glaring at him, her skin pale and hair wild. It would be a frightening sight if not for the bags under her eyes and her obvious tiredness taking some of the venom away.

Hermione looked at the paper, photos of her and Harry were splashed across it, one of them arm in arm as they walked to Hogsmeade. Going by their clothes, it was obvious this had only been taken yesterday. There was another one of Ron, Hermione had no idea where it was taken from, and the third photo was the one of her hugging Harry back in fourth year that Skeeter had used to say she was with Harry back then and accuse Hermione of being a serial heart breaker. Or a tramp.

The article was basically letting everyone know Hermione and Harry had gotten back together and apparently, jilted lovers, the youngest Weasley's, were not happy about it. Anonymous sources had even been quoted, it was all bollocks in Hermione's opinion. Hell, Ron had been right beside them when this photo had been taken. Hermione pushed the paper away and flopped back down.

"That's it?" Draco asked. "I thought you would have been pissed at least."

"I'm too tired to be pissed."

The movement of dropping back onto her bed had upset her stomach and she could feel the urge to vomit quickly rising. She sat up abruptly, her eyes wide as she scanned for something to vomit into. Draco seemed to instinctively know what she needed and transfigured her a bucket. Hermione snatched it off him and threw up into it.

Draco rubbed her back soothingly and held her hair out of the way. The past few weeks they had become even closer, living together as they were.

Draco listened to her throw up, avoiding looking at her but wincing with every more painful sounding heave.

When she quietened down, still hunched over the bucket, he spoke.

"I talked to my father yesterday. He told me about drinking Veela blood to stave off the negative effects. I can- You can have mine Hermione."

Hermione shook her head.

"I won't take your blood Draco. It's only another temporary fix anyway, there's no point. Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage."

Honestly, she didn't think she wanted to prolong it, the end result would be the same. Yes, everyone had to die at some point, she knew that, but...it just wasn't fair.

Draco nodded. He hadn't really expected her to take him up on it, but thought he'd offer anyway. He knew of her reservations about drinking blood. He hadn't been that keen on it either, and it helped that he drank Luna's blood while they were having sex. It became instinctive and he wasn't really thinking about it. Afterwards there was always a bit of an ew factor, but he was able to suppress it.

Hermione looked so pathetic, all pale and weak, hunched over the bucket as she looked up at him. He used his wand to vanish the mess before the stink could hit his nostrils. He couldn't imagine going through this just because he was missing Luna from his life.

"You're really lucky to have Luna Draco," she said.

Hermione could admit she hadn't liked the witch when she had first met her, there was something about the girl that was too Trelawney like. But after getting to know her, through the DA mostly, Hermione had come to appreciate the person Luna was. There were times Hermione had even wished she could be more like her, Luna had this tranquillity and serenity about her that she seemed to keep in any situation. She was unflappable in her own little off beat way with a deeper understanding of things Hermione had always envied.

"Yeah, it could have been much worse," he agreed.

Hermione snickered weakly. "It could have been Lavender."

He winced at that mental image. "That's not even funny."

There was a long silence as Hermione tried to catch her breath and will her stomach to settle.

"Do you love her?" She asked.

"No...but I could. Eventually. I get these little...fantasies sometimes."

"Ew," she cringed.

"Not those kinds!" He snapped. "Other kinds."

"Ah, the familial bliss kind of ones?"

Draco nodded.

"I've been getting those too."

"Stupid Veela," the both muttered in unison.

"So tell me about your fantasies," Draco said.

"I don't think so."

"Come on, one for one," he pushed.

"If you go first," she sighed.

It would be reassuring to know she wasn't the only one getting these completely unrealistic fantasies of what the future could be. Draco nodded.

"It's sappy as hell, so tell anyone and I'll kill you."

"Of course," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Laugh and I'll kill you too."

"Why are we doing this if you're so paranoid?"

Draco shrugged. "Just need to talk I guess."

"You know I wouldn't betray your confidence Draco."

He was beginning to learn that yes. He had begun to open up to her about things, personal things. She wasn't the only one who suffered nightmares from everything that had happened. No matter what he told her, she never judged and she certainly never told anyone else.

"So, tell me about your future," she said.

He grinned a bit, almost the same kind of soppy grin he sometimes got around Luna. Hermione hoped she didn't unknowingly sport the same kind of expression around Snape.

"Some of the earlier ones, I would always see Luna standing in the gardens at the Manor in springtime. Her hair out, the sun on her, her stomach swollen with my child. I know I'm kind of young for that, but they're still there." He didn't want to go into too much detail, this kind of talk was more for girls. And he in no way felt ready for a child, he certainly didn't want one, but he couldn't ignore the Veela part of him that longed for it. "Your turn."

Hermione tried to recall one of the lesser ones she'd had, one of the ones that didn't eventually get...erotic.

"Me and...Snape are sitting in the living room, _a_ living room I have no idea where it is. It's winter outside and we're sitting on the couch, the fire is blazing and we're just reading together...kind of...snuggled. I know. Snape and snuggling, never in a million years but like you...it's there all the same."

Even that one had turned into a more sexual fantasy as he eventually took her on the rug in front of the fire. But the first part of it was clean enough to share.

Draco had almost snickered at her fantasy. Snape and snuggling just did not go together at all. But she hadn't laughed at him.

He'd had so many of those little domestic fantasies with Luna that ran along the same vein as Hermione's, and he had the sneaking suspicion there might have been a few of them that weren't conjured up by his Veela. But one thing he'd learned, through watching his father, through analysing his own behaviour and even watching Hermione, the Veela was a convenient thing to blame all uncomfortable _feelings_ on.

"The other most common one I get is our wedding," he continued. "Mother's already planning it."

Hermione shot him a small smile. "Is it going to be how you envisioned it?"

"Not really. Luna has to give her input and my mother has her own ideas as well. Besides, I don't want to tell her about my ideas, weddings are for women to organise."

Hermione rolled her eyes. Boys. "It's your big day too Draco," she said, a tinge of sarcasm colouring her tone. "Sure you don't want a say in what colour flowers you have? Or the flavour of your cake?"

"Cake? What has cake to do with anything?"

Hermione frowned. "Guess wizard weddings and muggle ones are a bit different."

She hadn't been there for Fleur and Bill's wedding, just the reception after but that had seemed pretty normal, but then the Weasley's had adopted a few more muggle customs. Maybe full on wizard weddings and receptions were just different.

"I think my favourite one..." Hermione continued after a long silence, her tone so very soft. "There's a little boy, maybe five or six, he has curly black hair and these bright brown eyes...he's sitting on the kitchen bench and Snape is beside him, teaching him how to hold a stirring rod properly, they're making potions with food colouring and stuff. The little boy seems to really be enjoying it, even Snape isn't looking his usual scowly self."

"My favourite ones seem to involve children too. Guess that's because it's what we're designed for. Procreation."

Hermione nodded. Made sense.

"You know...uncle Severus can be like that. Less scowly," he said. Her expression was sceptical to put it mildly. "It's true. He was actually...one of my favourite people growing up."

"He had reason to be decent to you. He's your Godfather, and good friends with your parents."

Draco had to concede that point. He certainly wasn't the kissing babies type. But he truly believed the man would be...softer to his own child. Severus wasn't warmth and light, but he could care for people. Draco was one of the few people to have ever seen the man smile. It was a never a big smile, but it always seemed to take years off of him.

Draco couldn't be sure if Hermione and Severus would have worked out, he knew they would to an extent because of the Veela, which would do anything to ensure a happy relationship and a happy mate. If Severus wanted submissive, Hermione would be submissive, if he wanted nothing more than a woman who cooked and cleaned and waited on him hand and foot, Hermione would be forced to become that, unable to override the Veela instincts. A part of her would never be happy, but it would die off eventually.

Without the Veela... Draco could see the possibilities in a relationship, but such a thing would never come about as Severus would never look twice at her, the odds were stacked against her. His student, the age difference, she was a Gryffindor, he'd hated her as a child, he hated her friends.

Talk about doomed.

xXx

Hermione was called into Headmistress McGonagall's office later that evening. Hermione was half tempted to have the woman come to her since she was feeling so ill. But she was much better than she had been that morning and maybe the fresh air and activity would be good for her. Besides, it would be rude to do otherwise.

Hermione was admitted to the office instantly and Professor McGonagall was there, sitting at her desk, a tray of tea and biscuits already set out. The tea was appealing, but just the thought of the biscuits set her stomach to churning.

"Good evening Hermione," the older woman greeted as Hermione took a seat. "How are you feeling?"

"As well as can be expected," she shrugged. "I'll be back on the potions by Monday so it's not so bad."

Minerva nodded. "I want to speak to you about what was in the Prophet this morning. Is Harry your mate?"

Hermione could see the hope in the old woman's eyes and felt guilty about crushing it.

She shook her head. "Harry and I aren't even together, it's all rubbish. You know how the Prophet is."

The Headmistress visibly deflated at the news. "Has there been any change on the mate front?"

Minerva noticed the sudden rigidity of Hermione's posture. Something had happened, that much was clear. Hermione wouldn't get so tense otherwise. But the girl only shook her head in denial.

"Hermione." The Headmistresses tone held a warning note to it and Hermione averted her gaze.

"I discovered who he is," she said softly, eventually.

"That's wonderful news."

Hermione shook her head sadly, her eyes welling up despite her best efforts to stop it. She could be a bit of an emotional wreck these days.

"It really isn't."

"Why ever not?"

"Because I can never tell him," Hermione replied.

"Why? Who is it?"

Hermione shook her head again. "If I tell you, you'll interfere."

"Hermione, tell me."

"I can't."

Minerva debated with herself a moment. She would like to think she would never do anything to break the girls trust in her, but she wasn't entirely sure she could sit back and do nothing either.

"I give you my word I will not interfere Hermione," Minerva finally said, feeling dread coil in her stomach as she uttered the words. "Tell me who he is."

Hermione trusted this woman implicitly. She was as honourable as they came and wouldn't break her word to play match maker Hermione was sure.

"It's Professor Snape," she told her, her voice barely above a whisper.

There was a long silence and Hermione eventually worked up the courage to look her in the eye. Hermione hated pity and she wouldn't tolerate it now, not even from her.

"Don't," she snapped. "Just...don't look at me like that. It's ok, I've accepted it. I'm...accepting it."

"Accepting...? You can't mean to do nothing."

"That's exactly what I mean."

"Hermione-"

"No," Hermione cut her off. "Come on! It's Professor Snape."

"He's a good man-"

"I know that. But he loathes me, I won't bind him to me. How can I do that to him? He's been chained and shackled to enough causes and enough people in his life time. I'm not going to be someone else who screws him over. He deserves better." Hermione wiped her eyes before they could over flow. "It's ok Professor, it'll be ok. I'm coming to terms with it, and everyone else will too."

She was getting sick of having to explain her reasons as well. Because every time she did, she was lying. The reasons she stated were only half of them. She didn't really want to go into her more selfish ones, she didn't want people thinking negatively of her. But Professor Snape was scary, the way he could tear her self esteem to shreds, she couldn't imagine living with that for the rest of her life. And then there was that other part of her that wanted to tell him, that part that would immediately accept whatever it took to be with him if it meant saving her own life. It wasn't even her Veela part, just self preservation. She hated that weak and selfish part of herself.

That was why Snape could never find out. If he afforded her the opportunity to live, she would probably take it. She knew she wasn't that strong. She didn't really want to die.

Hermione looked up at McGonagall who had taken a seat in the chair beside her, tears in her own eyes. She took Hermione's hands in hers and the girl could feel her grief well up anew. Her eventual death hadn't really been acknowledged by anyone else until now. Harry refused to even think about it, believing he could find a way to save her. Even the bucket list was just 'a list of fun things to do after graduation' to him. Draco avoided speaking of it at all unless he was making some snide comment and alluding to it indirectly. Ginny was hounding her about finding her mate, ignoring what would happen if she didn't. And Ron preferred to ignore the Veela thing altogether.

"Professor-"

"Minerva, I've told you before Hermione, Minerva when we're alone."

Minerva looked upon Hermione like a Granddaughter, it was devastating to think she could die while her salvation resided in the very same building. But there were so many complications.

Minerva still thought Hermione should give it a try, but she had given her word not to interfere. She would just have to work around that somehow.

"Remember Minerva, you promised not to interfere. If you tell him I'll leave, I'll disappear," Hermione threatened.

Minerva nodded, not wanting to force Hermione into such a drastic action.

The two spent a bit of time that evening commiserating, crying, reminiscing some of her, Harry and Ron's more notable adventures. It was actually kind of nice. And a good distraction from how sick she was feeling. But, a lot of tears were shed too. For their irreparably injured, for their fallen, and for Hermione who was likely to be joining them soon.

When it was getting late though, both women agreed it was time for Hermione to get back to her dorm. She needed to rest.

Hermione bid Minerva goodbye and headed out the door, just about bumping into Snape on the way. She had to hold her breath as she passed, mentally screaming at herself to not take a breath, do not breathe in his scent.

She quickly walked off, putting as much distance as she could between them, as quickly as possible before she did something stupid.

This was worse than that stupid crush she'd had on him back in third and fourth year.

She let out an almost hysterical laugh. Of course it was worse, much worse. Back then she only had to worry about making a fool of herself with her constant blushing whenever he spoke or so much as glanced in her direction. She only needed to worry about staying focused rather than depending on him just to live. Her situation now was a million times worse.

xXx

Severus watched her leave, not missing the fact she had clearly been crying. When he looked into the Headmistresses office, it was obvious the old woman had been crying as well.

What was going on with these women?

In fact, there seemed to be something strange going on with everyone associated with the girl. Even Draco. The boys seemingly innocuous observations about the girls health being an almost constant annoyance.

Severus wasn't stupid enough to not realise the boy was hinting at something, Severus was quite sure he knew what it was, what was wrong with the girl.

Normally, Granger would be no concern of his until she screwed up in one of his classes. But with the way she was going, it was likely to happen soon. And he did owe her.

Still, he wasn't oblivious to the way his body seemed to react to her presence. It was getting harder and harder to ignore. He had no idea what was going on there. He had never looked at a student that way, and he certainly didn't want to start now. He was better than that.

He turned back to Minerva. The little Gryffindor who had just scurried out the door was the reason for his visit now.

While her performance had been improving, almost up to par with her previous standards, there was still something off about her. And he had seen it enough times to know. Plus, with Draco's hints, and some of the signs she was exhibiting, it was clear she was suffering the consequences of potions abuse. He didn't know which ones she might have been over dosing on, but he would find out.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hermionefan1983 - the blood was just spillage he had missed in his clean-up.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks everyone for the reviews, faves and alerts. :)

**Chapter 7**

Hermione and Draco were exiting their second potions class of the day. Most of the few other students had already gone on ahead.

God potions was much harder than it used to be with the difficulties she had focusing. And Professor Snape had been in a right foul mood. Usually he was a little more relaxed with the advanced class, they didn't require as much monitoring and were usually pretty good at staying quiet and getting their work done.

But today, the man had seemed on edge. Part of Hermione, her oh so annoying Veela side, wanted to go to him and soothe him somehow. No doubt she had probably been pumping out her scent, because even she had noticed a change in him when he came near her. A very slight softening of his features, a little less rigidity in his shoulders, so imperceptible she wouldn't have even noticed had she not spent so many hours unwillingly cataloguing every expression, every movement, every twitch the man possessed. It was almost stalkerish.

Hermione never fancied herself a stalker. She never thought she would get so twisted up over a boy. Well, in Snape's case she supposed he was man. Over a _male_, never thought she would get so twisted up over a member of the opposite sex.

It wasn't that she didn't believe in love or any thing, in fact, she did hope for it one day, but she just never saw herself the type to cast lovelorn glances or even make googly eyes. Not since Lockhart anyway, and look how that turned out. To this day she was still mortified over that crush. Thank God it was so short lived.

"Want to partner up for this assignment?" Draco asked her.

Hermione glanced over at him, it was him she shared a desk with now, and he was her partner in class when a potion required it. They very rarely had any theory with this class, it was mostly practical. In some ways, Snape was both harder and easier on this class. The written assignments were a killer though. Hermione had thought she was in depth before, what he required of them now was...significantly more. It was easier to split the assignment with someone, both do parts, then trade them off and rewrite in their own language.

"Yeah, why not?"

Hermione's ears pricked up at the sound of someone mentioning Snape's name. They always did. Her hearing had been getting better and better every day and the mention of her mates name seemed to always add a new level of focus, whether she wanted it or not.

The two boys in front of them were complaining about the Professor.

"He was no more a bastard than usual," the taller boy said, trying to diffuse his friends temper.

"Yes he was. I thought after the war maybe he'd pull that stick out of his ass."

"He probably just needs a good lay. I don't know why you're getting worked up about it, you still passed."

"Only just," the other boy hissed. They were both Ravenclaws by the look of it, that explained why they cared about the difference between a pass and a good mark then. "And who would want to sleep with that git? He'd need a love potion-"

The boy cut himself off with a laugh.

"What?" His friend asked.

"We'll slip him a love potion," the boy replied, his voice much quieter now, but Hermione could still hear him and had tensed at his words.

"What are you on about?"

"Trelawney's been panting after Snape since the school year started. She gets what she wants and Snape gets laid and humiliated in one go."

Hermione couldn't stop herself. She reacted before she could even register the movement.

Draco tried calling out to her, hesitant to use physical force to stop her. But his voice didn't seem to get through to her as she pinned the mouthy Ravenclaw against the wall by his neck, her fingers elongating, becoming talons, her eyes black as onyx swallowing both the iris and the whites of her eyes.

They were lucky it was just the four of them in the corridor.

"Hermione stop," Draco told her, trying to keep his voice firm without being threatening. "Nothing's going to happen to Severus, he can detect potions easily, he swallows nothing without checking it first."

Hermione pulled away, seemingly confused about what had just transpired as her fingers slowly went back to normal and her eyes cleared.

Draco quickly stunned the two Ravenclaws before they could run off. While unconscious, he obliviated them, woke them and confunded them, dragging Hermione away from the scene before the boys regained their senses.

"I don't know what happened," she said softly.

"You thought he was being threatened," Draco shrugged. "Happens to all of us. You just need to learn to distinguish between an actual threat and an empty one."

"I changed. Did you see my hands? Did you see how easily I slammed that boy against the wall? He was almost twice my size."

"You're exaggerating there a bit. He was only a little bit bigger than you. And with how quickly you moved, you had momentum on your side. You just need to learn to control yourself."

She scowled at him. "I don't even... I've never felt like that before. How can I control myself when I don't even register that I'm out of control?"

"You'll figure it out the more it happens. There's a small window in which to catch yourself."

"This can't happen again! You have to stun me or something if you see it about to," she hissed.

"I can't be attached to you at all times in case you lose it," he retorted.

"Of course not, but you know, if you are around and see it happening, you have my permission to do whatever it takes to stop me."

"Good to know."

They round the corner, making their way up to their dorm.

"You know those two wouldn't have actually done it. No one's that stupid. It wasn't a real threat Hermione," Draco tried to reassure her.

She nodded. But she didn't know. She let out a quiet groan and face palmed. What fresh hell was this? Her mate was one of the most hated people around with Voldemort gone. Though he was respected, he was still loathed. And what about those in the Death Eaters that hadn't been caught? They would surely seek vengeance on him at some point. God Snape was throwing her daily life into chaos and he didn't even know it

"I must have been a horrible person in a past life," she muttered.

Draco snorted in amusement but said nothing.

xXx

Hermione was sitting in the stands around the Quidditch pitch watching Gryffindor practice, sort of. Mostly she was reading. The fresh air was nice, though there was a biting chill in the air with winter taking hold.

Harry was back to being captain this year, with the war over he could focus on less dire pursuits. Though they certainly made the idea of losing sound like the end of the world. Ron and Ginny were out there too. Draco was off doing who knew what, probably with Luna.

So Hermione was getting in some precious alone time with her studies. These days most of her studying was done in the company of her friends. She had forgotten how distracting it could be. It was amazing what one could accomplish when they were supposed to be working on something else.

A sharp cry broke her from her concentration and she looked up in time to catch sight of Ron hitting the ground with a hell of a lot of force. Hermione leapt to her feet, watching him intently, hoping to see him move, even just a little, but he was motionless before she lost sight of him as his team mates surrounded him. Hermione hurried down, reaching them in time to see Harry's Patronus rush off, likely to Madame Pomfrey.

The medi witch appeared moments later, rushing towards them, wand in hand. Harry, Hermione and Ginny had managed to keep a fair amount of space between Ron and the crowd and stopped anyone from moving him. They knew enough to know you didn't move someone around who could have suffered a neck or back injury.

Madame Pomfrey dropped to her knees, casting all sorts of spells in quick succession before she even dared touch him. Once she deemed it safe, she started to levitate him to the hospital wing for treatment.

Harry ended the practice, moving with Ginny to follow Madame Pomfrey. Hermione returned to the stands to get her books back to her room before meeting up with them at the hospital wing.

When she got there, Harry and Ginny were waiting outside of a curtained off area. Harry pacing, his Quidditch uniform billowing very reminiscently of Snape's robes. _Not the time Hermione._

Ginny was crouched with her back against the wall, elbows on knees and head in hands.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, walking towards them. "Why did he fall?"

Both players could only look at her hopelessly and shrug. Neither one had been looking at him when it had happened.

Hermione wondered if it was an accident or if foul play was involved. Was that paranoid? Every time something happened there was usually something nefarious behind it. But who would do that to Ron? Was it meant for someone else?

Hermione made her way over to Ginny and took a similar stance beside her. Ginny had already lost one brother, she must have been terrified of losing another. She took one of Ginny's hands in her own and they both sunk down until they were sitting. Ginny shot her a grateful look, but it was quickly swallowed by sadness and worry. Hermione wanted to comfort her, tell her Ron would be fine, he'd survived worse but Hermione knew nothing of his condition. And if she turned out to be wrong...

"Did Madame Pomfrey say anything as she brought him here?" She asked.

Both shook their heads. Hermione wanted to ask if they knew how high he had fallen from but thought the question insensitive, and a bit irrelevant. It wasn't like she would be able to deduce anything from it.

About ten minutes later Snape walked in, carrying a case of potions he must have made up for the infirmary. Hermione stiffened instantly, her grip on Ginny's hand tightening and drawing the girls curious gaze. Hermione had to force herself not to stare at Snape, and to not breathe so deeply. She caught Harry's gaze, who was watching her intently.

Snape selected a few potions before disappearing behind the curtains with Madame Pomfrey. Though out of sight, she could still smell him and she willed herself to focus on Ginny. What kind of friend was she that she allowed her hormones to override the concern she should be feeling for her friends?

It was another hour or so before Madame Pomfrey finally came out. By now Ginny was curled on her side, her head in Hermione's lap and Harry was sitting at Ginny's other end, his hand had been stroking her back in soothing circles.

"He is going to need to be transferred to St. Mungo's," the medi witch told them.

At the horror stricken expressions that took over their faces Madame Pomfrey quickly explained and tried to lay their fears to rest.

"He'll live, he's out of the danger zone, they just have better facilities in ascertaining how much internal damage was done to him and things that will help him recover quicker."

They slumped in relief. He was going to be all right surely.

"He must have fallen from quite the height."

The two Quidditch players only nodded.

Hermione hadn't seen and so couldn't say anything. Besides, she was far too riveted on the sight of Snape vanishing away the multitude of empty vials from the potions they'd used on Ron. He was so graceful in everything he did. She was kind of jealous actually. She wouldn't be surprised if that was something her Veela had fixated on in the hopes of passing to her children. Could grace be inherited?

Their eyes connected and Hermione froze, mentally screaming at herself to turn away. He seemed frozen too. Was her scent affecting him as much as his was her?

"'Mione come on," Harry said, helping her up off the ground.

Hermione cast him a grateful look for snapping her out of her Snape induced trance and the three students left the hospital wing so Madame Pomfrey could make arrangements for Ron.

The three Gryffindors walked the halls towards their common room in subdued silence.

xXx

Severus woke from another lustful dream of his bloody best student, sweaty and panting.

They had been coming with increased regularity, likely because of the way he found her intoxicating scent clung to him. It was usually faint, but a simple brush against her, or a prolonged period of time in her presence was all it took for him to be unable to escape it.

Were he not so sure the notion was ridiculous, he would have thought she had slipped him something, that she was bewitching him somehow. But he never ate or drank anything he didn't check himself, and if it was some kind of charmed perfume, well, no one else seemed to be affected by her like he was so that seemed unlikely.

Unless it was specifically targeted at him, but again, that seemed ridiculous. Why would she? But she had to be doing something. Surely he wasn't just some perverted old man.

He pushed his hair from his face and rolled out of bed. Today he had to escort the three Gryffindor students to visit the injured Weasley. Quite frankly Severus had wanted to slap the barmy old woman for saddling him with those students.

Not only had she ignored his concerns of Miss Granger's potion abuse, but now she wanted him to guard them against the dangers of the world outside Hogwarts. Yes, rogue Death Eaters were still out there, but sending him with these kids was likely to attract _more_ trouble rather than detract. Although, perhaps if they were attacked he might find opportunity to discharge his life debt to Granger.

He got up, showering and going about his morning ablutions. He didn't bother with breakfast, eager to just get this visit to St. Mungo's over with. He didn't like being in Granger's presence, while at the same time, he didn't want to be any where else. Was it truly something she had done? Or was he becoming a degenerate?

He would like to think he would never act on it, but he almost had once. And in Potions class, he found himself watching her, he would stalk the aisles checking his students potions more frequently just so he could brush past her.

He loathed this lack of control he seemed to have around her. But she reacted to him too. He knew she did. What ever it was, it wasn't completely one sided. But what was it exactly? Spell? He found it very hard to believe he was acting this way, feeling such things without some kind of external influence.

He knew it had to do with her scent. But what had the little muggle born girl done exactly? Had she done it or had someone else? And where did her potions abuse fit in to it all? It wasn't an unheard of thing, for some of the more brighter students to take to potions, or even muggle drugs, stimulants usually.

He would like to think Granger wouldn't go to such lengths. She had never needed to before. Or perhaps she wasn't abusing stimulants. Perhaps it was something else to help her cope with everything from the war.

And perhaps he should stop thinking about Hermione bloody Granger. Less than a year to go and she would have graduated and she would be out of his life. He would never need think of her again.

He made it up to the entrance hall and couldn't help but sneer at the three teens already there and waiting for him. His gaze immediately landed on Granger but he quickly forced it away, not allowing himself to even go there.

He stalked out of the castle, expecting them to follow without having to be told. Once outside the gates, he produced the Portkey Minerva had provided him with last night. They all took hold and it activated. Upon reaching their destination they moved into the hospital in silence, Severus bringing up the rear.

Despite the distraction Miss Granger provided, he was still very tuned to his surroundings.

They got to the boys room to find Molly Weasley already there, bustling about and fussing over her injured son. The boy was awake, but clearly not lucid.

He had hit his head quite hard when he had fallen, it had caused a bit of damage to his brain...But would he really notice?

Severus greeted Molly with a polite nod before leaving the teens to speak with their friend. He waited outside, almost guarding the door. He could hear the murmur of voices inside but didn't pay attention to the words. He could easily pick out Miss Granger's voice and continued to hang on her every sound.

He leaned against the wall near the door, every now and again casting his gaze about to be sure, though usually he had a pretty good sense for danger. After about ten minutes Severus was tempted to go in there and drag those kids out. He was quite ready to leave this place. He hated hospitals. He hated the infirmary at Hogwarts. He wasn't entirely fond of the medical profession, magical or muggle.

The door opened and Granger stepped out, seemingly surprised to see him. Though why that should be he didn't know. They just stared at each other, he could feel the air around them becoming charged.

"Sir..."

Her voice was breathless and he was quite certain she was closer to him than she was a second ago. Were her eyes getting darker? Again her scent washed over him and he actually closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

Hermione could see how she was affecting him and had to fight not to jump him. Her Veela knew he wouldn't resist her, Hermione knew too which made her even more determined to fight the urges. It would be wrong, she would be taking advantage. If he was in his right mind he would never allow her to touch him.

"I'll apparate myself back to the school now. Goodbye."

She quickly left before he could react, before he could shake off the daze her scent had put him in. God she felt awful.

She apparated back to the school and headed straight to her dorm, walking in on Luna and Draco making out on the sofa. She cringed and hoped if he was going to take that further, he went to his own room. She used that couch too. She flopped onto the bed and lay back, staring at the ceiling.

She should probably turn up to her afternoon classes even though they had been given the day.

It had been kind of hard seeing Ron like that, he didn't seem to be in control of his own limbs. They said there had been a bit of brain damage, nothing they couldn't fix, it would just take time and rehabilitation.

They still didn't know why he fell. Was it really just an accident? It was so hard to see something like that and not immediately leap to the idea of plots and foul play after the way their lives had been.

Ron hadn't been able to shed much light on what happened. From what little he could say, it sounded as if he didn't even remember the entire practice let alone his fall. Still, it would be a while before he was completely recovered. But at least he would be at some point.

xXx

Hermione headed down to the Great Hall for dinner that night, coming across Professor Snape on her way. The glare he gave her was a fierce one.

"Miss Granger."

He stalked towards her and she froze, staring at him. He did not look happy and she was pretty sure she had started releasing her scent too. She tensed up, hoping that would close up whatever or where ever she was releasing it from.

"When the Headmistress arranged our little excursion today, you agreed to stay near me at all times and listen and obey. And still you ran off..."

His voice trailed off, it had been getting softer with every word he spoke. She was affecting him again. He couldn't stay mad at her. Maybe this wasn't so bad.

Hermione shook herself of the thought. It was manipulative and dishonest and she was taking advantage again, whether she meant to or not.

Crap, he was berating her again. When had he continued speaking?

"-Detention with me this evening."

_No!_ She could not have detention with him. Alone with him in an enclosed room for possibly hours...She wasn't sure she would be able to control herself.

"Perhaps it would be best if I had detention with Filch," she suggested.

Severus was literally stunned into silence. Never once had such a sentence been uttered by a student. Severus may have only been a few steps above Filch in terms of detention master, but he was still considered preferable.

He looked at her intently, trying to figure out just what was going through her head. He considered Legilimency, but she would be sharp enough to realise just what he was doing.

Her cheeks were flushed, even her breathing seemed to be a bit quick, her pupils slightly dilated. Potions...surely she had taken something.

He roughly took hold of her chin, tilting her head further into the light of a nearby torch, searching her for...something.

Hermione closed her eyes, cursing the way her blood sang at his touch.

"Open your eyes," he commanded.

Hermione did so, not quite sure if her Veela was compelling her to obey or not, and much to focused on the heat pooling within her at that voice.

"Legilimens," his voice was a quiet hiss.

Hermione tried to fight him off as soon as she realised what he had done, tried to focus her memory on other things, anything not pertaining to the fact of her Veela heritage.

She physically pushed him away after a few moments, unsure of what he had seen, but hoping there was nothing incriminating. She quickly turned and ran off before he decided to invade her mind again.

"I still expect you in detention Miss Granger," he called after her, getting no response.

He stood there a moment, pondering what he had seen. Snippets of her friends, memories of himself as well. He was a little disturbed at the amount of time she seemed to spend watching him. But what grated on him most was the fact the girl _was_ taking potions, an inordinate amount of them, and it was under Poppy's watchful eye, which meant Minerva had to condone this. So when he'd brought his concerns to the witch not long ago about his suspicions of Miss Granger's potions abuse, she had known all along and had not told him, merely dismissing his concerns.

But that begged the question, what was wrong with Miss Granger that required such a multitude of potions every day? And why had be not been consulted?

He may not be a medi wizard, but he was a bloody potions master, they should have come to him. He could have known of something to at least minimise the amount of potions she was on, a substitute potion.

Was she ill? Or was it some kind of lingering dark magic from the war? If dark magic, they should have consulted him for that too.

He was getting defensive he realised. Had it been dark magic, they would have come to him, he was the most knowledgeable in the field within this castle. So it had to be illness then. Was it terminal or temporary?

He was rather eager to find a way to discharge his life debt to her after all. He just wanted to be free.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry about taking so long, I'm moving house and I got 'The Last of Us.' OMG I love that game! It's so freakin' awesome. I've been hooked and spent a lot of my free time playing it.

A guest reviewer brought up Hermione's apparent control in resisting her Veela urges. It's not that she has a super iron will, it's just that the urges aren't all consuming. Earlier in the story it was mentioned that there are other Veela who choose death rather than accept their mates. The urges are there but there is still enough presence of will for the Veela to be able to make their own choice. As for the falling in love naturally and getting to know each other stuff, it does happen eventually, don't worry, it's not just this real quick - he accepts her and everything's suddenly ok now - kind of thing.

Also, I started working on another fanfic, because I love last of us so much I wanted to do a HP sort of LoU story. So I did one, it's not a crossover or anything, just a post apocalyptic Harry Potter thing heavily inspired by LoU. Very heavily. It's called Playing in Graveyards. So what spare time I do get to write will be divided between this fic and that one. I'm not stopping this one though.

Chapter 8

Hermione made her way down to detention, despite all the very valid reasons that she shouldn't. But she didn't like to disobey her teachers, and she certainly didn't want to end up with even more detention time for not showing. And part of her just wanted to be near him, loathe as she was to admit it, even to herself.

That same part hoped he had seen enough from invading her mind to have alerted him to the truth of what was going on and that he would make everything better when she turned up tonight. Though she knew it was unlikely, even if he did know he certainly couldn't make _everything_ better. Even if he did accept her, she would still feel awful for trapping him. That would always be hanging there between them.

And now she was getting ahead of herself. He probably didn't even know about her.

She knocked on his office door and heard him bid her entry. She went inside, hoping he would just give her her task and leave her to it.

"Hand over your wand," he ordered.

He didn't even look up from his marking and so she took out her wand and rested it on the desk in front of him.

"The cauldrons," he said. "Clean them."

His voice was monotone and as Hermione set to doing the task he gave, she was both relieved and disappointed he wasn't going to say anything he might have seen in her mind. She wanted to claw his eyes out for causing such confusion and turmoil within her, though she still had enough rationality to know he wasn't really at fault.

She got to cleaning the cauldrons, it was not too disgusting a job, no worse than doing the dishes at home and having to clean off the ones her dad had left to soak and hidden in the oven, where they were usually forgotten until someone next used it. Sometimes mould would have started to grow over them. That habit of her dads used to annoy her mother to no end. She wondered if he still did it. Had she erased that part of him too?

She zoned out as she worked, Snape's presence sort of lulling her into a nice daze. This was probably as close to that fantasy of reading together on the couch in front of the fire as she was going to get.

Severus was watching her every now and again, his gaze drifting over. That intoxicating scent of hers had reached him again and he wanted nothing more than to bury his face into the crook of her neck and breathe deep. His hands were itching to grab her. What was she doing to him?

Hermione was broken from her trance as she felt Professor Snape behind her. She whirled around and looked up at him, her breath catching in her throat at his proximity. The look he was giving her was...searching, but so very intense.

"Please don't go into my mind," Hermione's voice came out a whispered plea and she hated how weak she sounded.

"What are you hiding?"

He wanted to know what was wrong with her, even he wasn't entirely sure why, but the life debt seemed a justifiable excuse.

"Nothing of relevance to you."

Her Veela railed at the lie and Hermione felt an almost painful twisting in her chest as it punished her for it.

He was very close now, his hands resting on the bench either side of her and he just stared and she knew he was trying to figure it all out. Half of her wanted him to, half of her didn't.

Would it be so bad to kiss him?

She could gauge his reaction, maybe it wouldn't be as unfavourable as she thought...or maybe it would be worse.

His cheek grazed hers as he inhaled the scent of her. Hermione's skin broke out in goosebumps and she had to fight the urge to shiver.

_Focus Hermione, he wouldn't be doing this if he was in his right mind. You've practically drugged him._

That was like pouring a bucket of ice cold water on her as her Veela side warred with the part of her that always tried to do the right thing no matter the consequences. It was that part of her that had gone to McGonagall about Harry's mysterious broom. The part that had even gone against Wizarding law to orchestrate Sirius' escape. She had always prided herself on her ability to try and do the right thing.

"Sir..."

Severus felt a thrill shoot right through him at her breathless whisper. He was affecting her just as she was him, he was sure of it.

"Yes?"

God that voice was almost Hermione's undoing, but she had to toughen up. If he realised the truth of what was going on...

"I'm sorry," she said.

He leaned back a bit, frowning. That was not the response he had been expecting.

"I'm so sorry," she said again. "You're not thinking clearly, I'm responsible for that."

She ducked out from under his arm, backing away as he watched her, his brow still furrowed.

"What are you talking about Miss Granger?"

He was no longer that seductive man she caught a small glimpse of just a moment ago.

"Just...I'm sorry. We should stay away from each other."

She quickly left before he could say anything, not realising until she got back to her dorm that he still had her wand. _Damn_.

xXx

Severus dropped into his desk chair after she left, his breathing ragged as he tried to purge himself of the desire that she had lit within him.

What on earth was he thinking!? Although, apparently she was partially responsible.

He would like to blame her completely, but he had enough presence of mind to know it was wrong, he simply didn't care at the time.

But this begged the almost ever present question: What was she doing and why?

He noticed her wand still sitting on the edge of his desk and picked it up. It had been replaced after the war, he remembered seeing her carrying Bellatrix's wand for awhile. He wasn't sure what her wand was made of now, but it was a beautiful and intricate piece of work. And the feel it gave off...there was a warmth to it that he had long ago come to associate with the girl herself.

But there was a tinge of something else...he would almost think it were sorrow, despair perhaps. It was a little disturbing.

He summoned a house elf and had it return the wand to the Head Girl who was likely up in her chambers or would be soon.

Perhaps he should heed her words of staying away from each other. It was only around her that he seemed unable to focus, that he thought and did things he would never normally do. Especially not where she was concerned. Objectively, she was a beautiful girl, he could admit it if only to himself. But there had been prettier girls come through these halls and he had never fantasized or behaved inappropriately with them. Granger's intelligence was staggering to be sure, which was also something he preferred in a woman but the fact that this was _Granger_ and his _student_, should have nullified any sort of desire he might have for her. The girl was annoying. Though less so this year he supposed.

But that could have been due to whatever illness she was suffering. Something needed to be done, he needed a tighter reign over his actions. It was all he could do for now. It would be the school holidays soon, she would leave the castle. Then it was only a few months until she graduated and was gone from his life.

Strangely, the thought did not fill him with the relief he expected.

xXx

Hermione was once again in the infirmary with Madame Pomfrey. Tomorrow the holidays began and they were packing her a little potions kit so she could get through the Christmas holidays a little easier. Madame Pomfrey finished packing it and applied all sorts of charms to keep them safe, then left it with a house elf to pack it in with the rest of her things.

With that sorted, Hermione met Harry at the door so they could walk down to breakfast together.

It had been a while since Ron, and he was back at the Burrow now, but he was still in rehabilitation, he was still having trouble with basic motor functions. Even the wizarding world didn't have a quick fix for brain injuries.

Harry was going to spend part of his holidays with Ron, and part with Hermione. Andromeda was letting him bring Teddy when he came to Australia so Harry could spend time with his Godson. Hermione was actually looking forward to the holidays. She would spend a few days at the Burrow when she came back from Oz, give her a chance to rest up before school resumed.

She had already done her Christmas shopping. Despite her better judgement she had even bought Professor Snape something. It had been a spur of the moment thing, she had seen it and immediately thought of him. It was a black and silver fountain pen set. She had seen him once, trying to wipe away the ink stains on his fingers and looking pretty miffed about the mess. It was a very nice set, two pens with refills contained in a very nice leather box. It was simple, practical and it looked nice too in a masculine sort of way. Much less messy than quills. But she doubted she would ever give it to him. She shouldn't have even bought it in the first place, but she had done it without thinking, which was becoming a regular occurrence much to her annoyance.

After breakfast was advanced potions. She had only had one other class with Snape since the detentions, and she had been the last to arrive and the first to leave. It truly was better to keep her distance before she made him do something he'd regret.

Draco had already filled her in on the plans he had made for him and Luna. Apparently her and her father would be coming to the manor to stay for awhile, give the two families a chance to really put the past behind them. Draco was planning to take Luna away as well, somewhere she would love, he hadn't decided on where yet. He wanted it to be perfect for her, because he was actually planning to propose. Though the contract was drawn up and their binding was inevitable, he still wanted to make the gesture. Draco could be quite sweet when he wanted to be.

They eventually got into the classroom after breakfast where Snape already had everything prepared, their instructions on the board. They got to it, Hermione focusing on not staring at the man as she worked. He drove her to distraction, no matter how focused she tried to be. She assumed it would get worse as time wore on.

It was while she was staring at him rather than focusing on her potion, that she heard Draco hiss her name. Hermione frowned and looked at him, but before she could ask what was wrong, her cauldron exploded.

For the first time ever, Hermione Granger had exploded a cauldron.

Severus had been able to react quickly of course, this certainly wasn't the first time disaster had befallen his class. He dispelled the fumes and checked the injured girl was all right enough to be moved. He picked her up, dismissing the class as he swept out the door. He got her to the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey began tending to her. Since he had already dismissed the class he had nowhere he needed to be. So he paced outside the curtained off bed.

Madame Pomfrey had assured him she didn't need him for this and to wait outside. This was the first time Granger had ever made such a disastrous mistake. She had been distracted he knew, because they had been staring at each other. It was so unprofessional of him. He should not have held her gaze the way he had, he should have known better. There was no place for distractions in Potions.

He left the hospital wing after a few moments. The last thing he needed was for Poppy to see just how out of character he was behaving, and all because of a student. He shouldn't be letting her get to him.

But he already knew he would be back later to check on her.

xXx

Hermione woke up later that night and knew instantly she wasn't alone. She sat up, ignoring her visitor as she evaluated herself, her skin still felt a bit raw and tender, but she supposed, from what she could remember, raw, tender skin was a good sign. At least she still had skin. It looked a little red from what she could see on her arms, but nothing that shouldn't fade with time, she hoped.

She glanced up to see Professor Snape sitting in a chair near by watching her intently. She wasn't the least bit surprised to see him there.

"Professor..." Her throat hurt, likely from either inhaling or swallowing whatever the hell happened with her potion.

Severus leaned forward in his chair, elbows on knees and hands clasped between them. He wanted to ask her questions, he wanted to know what was going on with her and sort out once and for all just what she was doing to affect him so much. She had taken responsibility before, she must know what was going on. What magic was she messing with that she shouldn't have been?

But now that she was awake, speech seemed to flee. He knew the urges he was experiencing were not natural, she was inducing them somehow and every time he felt like this, he was always enveloped by her heady scent. It had to be her perfume or body wash perhaps. It was something she was wearing.

Despite the accusations he wanted to make, the scolding he had been planning, nothing came out. Her mouth opened and closed several times, nothing coming out either. She was apparently as speechless as he was. There was some satisfaction in that.

Without even realising he moved he was at her bedside, peering down at her. She closed her eyes, fearing he might use Legilimency on her again, this situation was far too reminiscent of an earlier one.

Severus saw what she was doing, and he knew why, didn't need his magic to know that. But reading her mind was the last thing on his own right now.

Her breathing seemed to have picked up, her chest practically heaving. Her heart was likely racing. Why did they have this effect on each other?

He reached up and gently brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek, getting a breathless sigh from her. It only encouraged him as he leaned in and kissed her. It was a gentle kiss, exploratory, just to see if she would pull away.

She didn't.

He deepened it then, all the while knowing he should not be doing this but unable to really stop himself, or care all that much.

Hermione as well hated herself for not being stronger and resisting her Veela urges. But the feeling of completion and revitalisation she felt was too hard to give up. She had no idea it could feel like this and she didn't want it to stop.

She grabbed his robes and gave as good as she got. Her experience was limited, but it was too hard for her to care about that right now, in fact it hardly registered after a few moments.

Oh he was going to kill her for this when he came to his senses. Unless she just stopped him from coming to his senses. They could just stay like this forever.

_Be realistic Hermione!_

She squashed that voice down, sick of listening to it. What had that voice brought her recently but pain and self sacrifice. He had kissed her first. This wasn't her fault.

_But he wouldn't have kissed you if you weren't drowning him in your scent...pheromones...whatever._

Shut up, he was a very powerful wizard, he could probably resist love potion if someone managed to get it into him.

She was going mad. He was driving her mad.

Hermione realised he had her lying back down, her wrists pinned either side of her head. He had taken a seat on the side of her bed while he bent down to kiss her, scattering them along her jaw and down her neck. There was some pain because of the tenderness of her skin, but she did her best to ignore it.

She never thought it would actually be like this. Was he like this normally? Or was it the effect her pheromones had on him?

_Bite him..._

This thought shook her from her daze. She knew exactly where that thought came from. And it had completely robbed her of the desire she felt in an instant.

Before she could react in any way, they heard the sound of Madame Pomfrey's office door opening and suddenly, Professor Snape was just gone, vanished into the shadows.

Hermione tried to regain her breath, mentally cursing herself. She wouldn't have to wait for a slow death because of her Veela curse, he was going to kill her. He was going to strangle her and he would probably take great pleasure in it.

Madame Pomfrey entered her cubicle, likely to check her status. Hermione offered a weak smile as the woman went about her duties and informed Hermione of just how much damage had been done to herself.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, faves and alerts :) Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

**Chapter 9**

Severus cursed himself as he stalked through the halls. He had been there to get answers, not to molest a student. Never in all his time teaching had he done something so inappropriate. He had been unfairly biased yes, unduly harsh in punishments, insulted the little idiots without a second thought, but never had his conduct been this out of line. Or so out of character.

But god he had enjoyed it. And he already knew he wanted to do it again. He had certainly not wanted things to end there. Thank Merlin for Poppy's interruption. Had it been a few minutes later there was no telling what scene she might have walked in on.

He didn't love the girl, and until recently she had never stirred any feelings of lust and desire in him. Hell, he didn't even really like her. Even as a student she was sub par. Her intellect may have been staggering, but as a student she was painful, her constant hand waving, her questioning, her answering without actually being called on, her ridiculously long winded essays... Although that had mostly stopped this year as well.

Was this change in her enough to attract his attention? He wouldn't have thought so. But he supposed, combined with whatever magic she was weaving, it could have been enough.

The question was...did he go to Minerva with his suspicions? What if he was wrong and there was no magic involved? Then he was just a pervert. He could lose his job for this. But then, if he was just a dirty old man, should he really be teaching in the first place?

No, he had to be right, he had never felt any such urges around any student but Granger. She had done something. It was the only logical explanation. And he should inform Minerva of it before an incident like this happened again. Perhaps next time would get further. No, the girl had to be stopped, or he had to be stopped. Though he was quite sure it was her fault. He had much more discipline than this. Perhaps Minerva even knew what the girl was up to. It wouldn't be surprising.

xXx

Minerva shuffled into her office, having been awoken by one of the portraits informing her she had a very agitated Professor Snape pacing outside and wanting to see her. She had no idea what could have brought him here, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't be here if it weren't important.

So she had thrown on her dressing gown and a warming charm for good measure and headed into her office where the man had somehow managed to get in anyway and was already waiting. And sure enough, he did seem quite agitated. What could have put him in such a mood? Especially at this hour. Surely it wasn't the students, he relished handing out punishments and detentions.

"What is the matter Severus?" She asked, taking a seat.

He stared at her a long while, obviously weighing up his words and she waited him out. Severus was not the kind of man one could rush.

"I have...behaved inappropriately with a student," he said eventually, his tone sounded more like he was fishing for something rather than confessing to a misdeed.

Minerva's eyes widened a moment before she suppressed the shock. "This student wouldn't happen to be Hermione Granger would it?"

Severus' eyes narrowed. There was definitely something more going on than he knew. And he did not like it. Minerva would never be so calm about such a confession, and that she was already aware of which student spoke volumes as to her knowledge of the situation.

"What do you know?" His voice came out low and menacing.

"Nothing I can share with you."

"Minerva-"

Minerva held up a silencing hand. "I gave my word."

"However, I did not."

Both living occupants of the room turned to Albus' portrait at his words.

"Albus-" Minerva began, but was cut off.

"No Minerva. Miss Granger does not have as much time as we would all like to think."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"The use of her Time Turner in her third year, I cannot be sure how much time she accumulated, but I would not be surprised if it were months."

"What is going on?" Severus pressed.

Minerva leaned back in her chair. She truly didn't want to lose Hermione and having Albus break the news to Severus did protect the Headmistress from the promises made. But would Hermione see it that way? Unlikely. It hadn't even occurred to Minerva that Albus' portrait might interfere, though she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised.

"Miss Granger recently learned her grandmother was a Veela. And Hermione's heritage has...kicked in. She has recognized you as her mate," Albus told him.

It took all his will power not to gape at the portrait that contained all the subtlety and tact of a raging bull.

_Veela_... This explained so much. But if she truly was a Veela, then why had she not approached him? She would be reaching the end of her time, the end of her life.

She would rather die than be forced to spend the rest of her life with him.

_So let her then._

As soon as the thought came, he knew he would do no such thing. He would never let her die. He'd been responsible for enough death in his life time. But the stupid girl. What did she think she was doing? Would she truly let herself die just to avoid having to be with him? Oh part of him did just want to let her die, the spiteful part of him, that little sliver of himself that was actually hurt by her rejection. Though he didn't like her, to know that someone would rather die than be with you...

Minerva saw his expression darken and she knew he had reached the completely wrong conclusions about Hermione's decision not to tell him.

"Don't Severus, that isn't why she didn't tell you," Minerva said.

"And you're so well informed..." He retorted.

"I am actually." Minerva sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples in an attempt to stave off the headache. "We have spoken on the subject. She is afraid of your reaction, knowing how much you despise her."

"I find it very hard to believe I terrify her so much she would rather let herself die than confront me. That girl has defied me repeatedly since-"

"No, it is just one of many reasons and I would list the rest if you would give me the chance."

Severus waved his hand imperiously, gesturing for her to continue.

"She knows you are an honourable man Severus, and if she were to approach you about this she knows you would likely agree to help her and she would have trapped you. She doesn't want to do that."

"So she's sacrificing herself for my benefit?" He sneered, clearly he didn't believe that either.

"Not exactly, I believe it is a partial reason. I think, she would find it difficult to live with the guilt. It is partially for you, and partly for her own peace of mind. Hermione has always striven to do the right thing, and guilting you into a relationship likely grates against her ethics."

"She would truly let herself die over that?"

Minerva lightly shrugged. "Some people prefer to try and limit the amount of guilt and regret they have to carry. The only life threatened in this situation is hers, therefore it's her decision to make. I can't say I agree with her decision or her reasoning but..." The woman shrugged weakly.

It still seemed a weak excuse to Severus. Slightly stronger than the spiel about saving him the trouble, but still weak. Perhaps she was terrified of his reaction, but he never would have thought her so cowardly. That was certainly how it was looking though.

"If you've been 'inappropriate' with her, does this mean-"

"No," he replied. "It means nothing. It just explains a lot of things."

Severus rose to his feet. He needed to get out of there and away from this woman who was looking at him far too intently for his liking.

Besides, now that the shock was wearing off, the anger was setting in.

"Severus what will you-"

"I will take care of it," he said, once again cutting her off.

With that he swept out of the room, heading straight for his dungeon quarters. When he got down there he poured himself a drink before dropping into a chair, trying to quell the simmering rage.

A fucking Veela. A life time with the girl. There was no doubt he would do it, but the fall out of this was going to be terrible. The 'relationship' itself was likely to be... Well, of that he was unsure.

From what he knew, a Veela conformed to fit the ideals of their mate. He thought about Lucius and Narcissa. Their relationship wasn't unbalanced exactly. But then, Narcissa was raised to be demure, submissive and to put the well being of the family above all else. These already fit with what Lucius wanted anyway.

He had seen the power Narcissa had over Lucius at times, but Lucius wasn't without his own form of defence. The two were actually quite perfectly matched, and behind closed doors, happy. Lucius had not undergone a drastic personality change to fit with his mates idea of a perfect husband. Would Granger?

He didn't want some submissive, quiet little mouse...actually, he wasn't sure what he wanted in a life partner, he had never really thought about it. It had always been about Lily. The other women were just passing fancies. He knew he could not have Lily and so had never dwelled on it.

And now it looked as if he would be saddled with someone whether he liked it or not.

He let out a growl, throwing his glass of whiskey into the fireplace and began to pace, his mind trying to think of ways to avoid this fate despite the more rational part of him telling him there was no avoiding it. Everyone knew Veela relationships were permanent, or resulted in death.

But despite being friends with a Veela affected couple, he did not know much. It had never been a point of interest, nor had it been necessary information. He knew how to take down a Veela and combat their own inherent magic, but their mating habits and such were not necessary information.

He sighed and returned to his seat, leaning back and closing his eyes. On the positive side, he would no longer owe her a life debt.

He let out a snort of bitter amusement. From one kind of chain to the next...

xXx

Professor Snape never came back, for which Hermione was very grateful. When morning finally came she was able to convince Madame Pomfrey to allow her to leave with the Hogwarts Express rather than stay another night for observation.

She didn't want to give Snape more time to track her down and flay the flesh from her bones for her behaviour. It may have been cowardly, but right now, she didn't particularly care. The further away from him she was, the clearer her head would be. She hoped. Seeing her family would be good for her too.

Harry met up with her in the morning and helped her with her things. They avoided the Great Hall, going to the kitchens for breakfast instead. Harry had given her a weird look for it, but hadn't pressed. She would probably tell him about what happened in the infirmary later.

Before heading off for the carriages, they stopped at Hagrid's hut to say goodbye and drop off his Christmas gifts. The half giant returned their gifts with some of his own. Harry's was making a distinct rustling sound and had air holes, and Hermione dreaded to think what might have been in it.

When they were finally in their own compartment on the train, Harry warded it for privacy.

"Ok Hermione, what is going on? You've been really fidgety since you got up this morning."

Despite knowing there was no possible way he could be there, Hermione still glanced around for reassurance before speaking.

"Snape kissed me in the infirmary last night, or...really early this morning," she muttered quickly.

Harry's eyes widened. "Did he take advantage of you?"

Hermione let out a laugh at the absurdity of that question. "Of course not. But I think I took advantage of him."

"Hermione..." Harry didn't actually know what to say. "It's good though right? I mean, now you can be together and you won't have to die."

"We didn't really talk about it, he still has no idea what's going on," she replied.

"Oh." Harry solemnly nodded his understanding. "Mione-"

"Hey, unward the door."

"Bugger off Malfoy. We're talking," Harry called through the door.

Draco unwarded the door anyway and came in.

"Telling you was just courtesy on my part," he said taking a seat. "What are you talking about that's so important anyway?"

"Snape," Hermione told him, though not bothering with the details.

"Ah."

"Where's Luna?"

"At the trolley. So when are you off to Australia Hermione?"

"Tomorrow actually, afternoon," she replied, eager to pick up the new line of conversation.

"We should all do something tonight," Draco said.

"What did you have in mind?"

He shrugged. "Something that involves plenty of liquor."

Hermione laughed lightly. "It's always about the alcohol with you."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"You might have the makings of an alcoholic."

"Nothing wrong with that," he grinned.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "I'm keen for dinner, your shout."

"All right then." He heaved a put upon sigh. "We'll go for upper class sophistication. Strap on your best. I shall pick you up in the carriage."

He said it all in an exaggerated haughty tone as he lifted his nose into the air.

"Will do."

She actually thought it might be fun, an opportunity to really dress up, but for nothing more than the company of her friends.

xXx

"Ah, I was wondering when it would all come out."

Severus quirked a brow at Lucius. "You knew?"

"Of course I did," the blonde replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"I was giving the girl the chance to do so herself."

"How did you even know before I did?"

"She came to me for information about Veela."

"That day in Hogsmeade..." He muttered, understanding dawning. He really should have pursued his curiosity about that bizarre situation.

Lucius nodded, taking a sip of his drink. Despite it being hardly noon, this conversation required something a little stronger than tea.

"I find it hard to believe she would have told you about me," Severus said.

"She didn't, I figured that out myself when you came and spoke to us." Lucius chuckled at the memory. "Quite the iron will you have there Severus. Although, I suppose considering recent events, not as strong as I thought."

Severus only scowled at the man. He came here for information, not ridicule. But then, he supposed that was just a side Lucius freely offered.

"I suppose you're here for information as well."

Severus gave a curt nod.

"And what would you like to know?"

"If there is a way out."

Lucius gave that infuriating chuckle again. "I suspect you already know the answer to that."

Yes, he supposed he did, but he still had to be sure. He didn't particularly feel like killing himself, and he couldn't very well murder the girl, no matter how tempted he was to do so.

"There is no way to deflect her...attentions to another?"

Lucius was looking highly amused. "No. None that has been discovered anyway. And from what I understand, she has been trying to keep her 'attentions' away from you. Why let this affect you Severus? She doesn't know you know and the both of you could just continue to try and ignore each other until her time runs out."

Severus' brow furrowed, he didn't like that idea.

"Don't tell me you care for the girl."

"Care for her? No. Care whether she lives or dies, yes."

Lucius lost that amused spark and really looked at his friend. Perhaps a more permanent relationship wouldn't be so bad for him, a woman who's loyalty to him would be unquestionable, who would strive to make him happy, it could actually be good for him.

"She would have let herself die Lucius, is that common among your kind?"

"Not common, but it does happen. The compulsion is strong, but not irresistible."

"If she would rather die than be with me, why was I singled out?"

"Perhaps it doesn't have as much to do with you as you think."

Severus' frown deepened.

Lucius sighed, and against his very nature decided to just be honest with his friend.

"There is a great loss of control when you find your mate," he confessed. "You don't consciously get to decide who it is, you don't get to decide when you must be mated as you have a time limit and your own happiness is dependant upon anothers. I railed at it when I first realised. I certainly did not want to marry Narcissa. I fought it, slept my way through most of the sixth and seventh year girls at Hogwarts to try and change my Veela's opinion."

"What was so wrong with Narcissa?"

"Nothing, but I didn't pick her. At some point during puberty she became something of a fantasy, though it passed. But then it came back to bite me later on. I suspect at some point young Miss Granger felt something for you other than hatred and disgust. You see Severus, it doesn't build from nothing, there has to be something no matter how fleeting."

Now Severus really was looking quite perplexed, trying to recall if Granger had ever acted differently with him. She had always been respectful to his face. And she did not bad mouth him behind his back as other students did, but that was more her need to please authority, or at least not disrespect it.

There had been girls in the past who had, for some rather odd reason, developed something of a crush on him, but they were so obvious. He could not recall anything in Granger's behaviour over the years that might have hinted at this. Was Lucius right?

"From what little I know of Miss Granger, she is fiercely independent and quite bossy. The idea that there is someone out there who can so control her the way you can, is likely more than just a little distasteful. And it is a valid fear. A mate truly has no idea the impact their words and moods have on their Veela."

Severus could see the way Lucius face darkened and his posture became almost defensive. He took that to mean Narcissa had screwed up somewhere along the line and Lucius was still stinging from it.

"Example," he demanded.

"I don't think so."

Lucius wasn't about to tell him how so many of Narcissa's little off hand comments had caused him to rethink so many of his decisions, from what shoes he wore, to the length of his hair, to those he associated with. He tried to come off as the kind of man who had never experienced a moment of self doubt in his life, who was completely in control of everyone and everything around him, but when it came to Narcissa...

A mate had the ability to completely tear apart their Veela. And Severus was already talented at doing that to normal people, not to mention she had already had to endure years of Severus' abuse.

Lucius could certainly commiserate with the girl, not that he would. But her decision was an understandable one.

They toiled away that afternoon as Severus asked more questions, trying to keep them as impersonal as possible, both felt there had been enough sharing this conversation. Lucius did tell him about the contracts the Malfoy family used though, those did actually help a lot. Though more the Veela than the mate, but Severus would easily be able to twist it to suit him.

Before Severus left the manor, he went in search of Narcissa to get a mates perspective on all this. After all, that was the side more relevant to him.

xXx

Hermione was sitting at the park, the day was scorching and she would have preferred her air conditioned hotel room but every time she looked across the park, her lips would lift into a smile and she would remember why she was enduring this blistering heat.

A brother. She had a little brother going by the kind of clothes her parents dressed him in. Her mother had evidently had the baby and they were taking him out to the park. The little family were spread across a blanket beneath the shade of a tree, Wendell and Monica Wilkins as they were now known, were doting upon the baby boy. It was a very familial scene and Hermione so wished she could be part of it.

Still, she had her friends.

They had indeed gone out the night they left Hogwarts, just her, Luna, Harry and Draco. True to his word, Draco had turned up in a Thestral drawn carriage, best robes on and everything.

Hermione and Harry thought he might have been joking, or at least exaggerating. They had dressed up, just not to the extent he had. Draco had ended up transfiguring what he deemed acceptable attire for them, claiming he would not allow them to embarrass his good image. He had then proceeded to take them out to one of the most expensive restaurants in London before they had spent the night pub crawling in their ridiculously over dressed outfits. They'd had a blast.

Unfortunately, the foursome had attracted a fair bit of attention and once again, the nature of Harry and Hermione's relationship had been twisted to attract more readers.

It was good to be out of the UK for a while though, away from Snape. She still required the potions to get through a decent day, but it was good to know she was no where near anyone she knew and could make a fool of herself in front of as she lusted after Snape.

It was lazy days like these that she would sit and watch her parents and come up with more and more outlandish ways to get herself back into their lives, from applying as a babysitter for them, to becoming a patient at their dental practice, to setting it up so she could save their lives and in their gratitude to her, they would just welcome Hermione into their lives with open arms.

Her friends were all well and good, but nothing could really compare to the original family she grew up with, especially now that she had a little brother. She'd always wanted a sibling.

"Hey."

Hermione glanced over, surprised to see Harry next to her, she didn't think he'd be here for another couple of days.

"Hey," she returned, giving him a bright smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Christmas tomorrow, didn't think you should be alone," he shrugged.

"Thanks Harry," she breathed.

She leaned over and hugged him tightly. She supposed he was the brother she'd always wanted anyway. She wasn't truly lacking in that department. But she still wanted to know that little boy.

"Besides, spending Christmas day at the beach sounds like a pretty novel idea," Harry added.

Hermione laughed lightly and nodded. It would certainly make a change.

"And don't forget I owe you after our last terrible Christmas."

Ah yes, their trip to Godrics Hollow and subsequent attack by the snake. She had definitely had better Christmases.

"So how are all the Weasley's?"

"Good. Ron's still recovering, he's getting there, the rehab's helping him a lot, and his nurse or whatever she is..." Harry whistled. "I'd probably try stretching out my rehab as long as I could."

Hermione just laughed.

"So is that your little brother?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded.

"Do you know his name?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I can't tell if he's cute from here or not."

"I bet you he's adorable," Hermione huffed.

"I bet Teddy's more adorable," Harry retorted.

"That's hardly fair, he's a metamorph."

Harry just laughed. "Andromeda's going to be bringing him here tomorrow to stay with me. So where are we staying?"

"A hotel, but it's a nice hotel I promise."

"Considering some of the pretty dismal places we've stayed in before..."

Hermione just smiled at him. They truly had stayed in some horrible places in their time.

"Why don't you find a way to introduce yourself to them?" Harry asked after a long silence.

"I've been thinking about it, but I can't really think of something natural. Plus, whenever I'm near them I just want to blurt out the whole story. They'd think I was a nut case."

Harry nodded. They certainly would. It must have been difficult for her, to be able to see them, to know they're out there and they don't even know about her.

He leaned back on the bench, raising his face to the sun. Merlin it was hot out here.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Severus leaned back in the chair of his office, his eyes roving over the contract he had drawn up. The Malfoys were certainly on the right track with the idea of it.

He had spent the last few days working on it, it wasn't a contract per se, more a set of guidelines for the relationship he and Granger would have to pursue if they were going to stop her death.

It sounded ridiculous thinking of it that way. Still, he had written out his expectations and what he wanted out of it and had added things he thought she might want or expect and left space to make amendments.

He still thought Granger should have been making the first move, since it was her problem, but he was well acquainted with her stubbornness. She wouldn't approach him and just speak about it with him like an adult. He would have expected better from her.

Over the past few days he'd been able to overcome his anger, he'd gathered all the information he could, and he had come to see this didn't have to be as torturous as serving the Dark Lord. He doubted he would ever love her, but that was no reason they couldn't have an amicable partnership. Besides, with this relationship, he would be able to get something he had always wanted.

He picked up the contract, he had resolved to get this over and done with as soon as possible. If Dumbledore was right, the girl had likely added a lot of time on with her Time Turner. It could run out any day. Or perhaps she went easy on it and had more time than they were giving her credit for. Unlikely. Even if she did run out of time, it would be a slow and agonizing process before she died, so there was still enough time to save her if word were able to make it to him.

He picked up the parchment and rolled it up. The girl was likely at the Burrow or Grimmauld with Potter.

She had featured in the Prophet again with the bloody boy, his Godson and his Godsons apparent mate according to Lucius. They'd made quite the spectacle of themselves. Although, Severus had to admit, she had looked rather stunning in the photos.

Was the nature of her relationship with Potter what the Prophet claimed? Because he would certainly not tolerate infidelity. Their inevitable relationship would be borne out of necessity rather than any real desire for it, but it would be monogamous.

As for how they explained things to the public, because it would get out eventually, they could either feign a love match, or come clean about her Veela heritage. Each one had its pros and cons.

At least if they explained about the Veela problem, he wouldn't be as harshly judged, he certainly couldn't be accused of taking advantage of a student. Although that wouldn't exactly stop the accusations, they should be significantly less than if he was just coming off as a dirty old man who preyed upon his students.

But on the other side of that argument, he would rather people not know that the girl was forced into this, even if it hadn't been him that forced her. There was just this sting of humiliation in that.

He flooed to Grimmauld, which Potter in his oh so infinite generosity had left open to Order members should they need a place to stay, so most of them still had access to it.

He knew instantly the house was empty, it had that feel about it.

He left via the front door and found a secluded place to apparate from, reaching the edge of the Burrows wards. He was allowed through, like Grimmauld, the Weasley's had left it open to Order members.

He went up to the front door and knocked only to have a rather frazzled looking Molly Weasley answer it. She gave him a bright smile, if a bit laced with exhaustion and worry, likely for her son.

"Hello Severus, come in come in I'll get you some tea."

"That won't be necessary. I am looking for Miss Granger, is she here?"

"No she isn't, she's spending Christmas in Australia with Harry and Teddy," she informed him.

Australia? What on earth was she doing in Australia? And with _Potter_. Playing happy families with him and his Godson? How stupid could she be? To go so far away from the only people who might have a chance to save her life should she need it.

"Thank you for your time Mrs Weasley."

With that he stalked off and apparated back to Hogwarts. He would just have to wait until the girl returned from her holiday, it shouldn't be too long now.

xXx

Stepping onto the Platform nine and three quarters always felt like taking that first step home. She would be sad to leave Hogwarts when the time came.

Hermione and Harry had dropped Teddy off with his grandmother yesterday upon arriving back in England. They had spent a nice few days in Australia and had nice tans to show for it. They had indeed spent Christmas day at the beach, all day parked under an umbrella and going back and forwards between that and the water. Teddy'd had a blast. It was his first time at the beach and he loved running, well, waddling away from the waves as they came in shrieking in childish delight.

They had spent yesterday and last night at the Burrow catching up with the Weasley's. Ron's nurse was indeed a very attractive woman who seemed to have obliviously ensnared Harry and most of the male Weasley's. Hermione liked her, she seemed and nice and she was very good at her job. Ron was doing so much better and they were even talking about sending him back to school, though he wouldn't be able to play Quidditch any more. And he would have a lot of stuff to catch up on, but he would get a lot of help so he would be able to achieve his N.E.W.T's.

They had even discussed - as a joke Hermione was sure - how to go about cheating for Ron, a way to trick the system.

It was actually quite fun to discuss, overcoming the obstacles and challenges such a feat would require. Of course, Hermione would never do it, or allow any of her friends to do it either. They could get into so much trouble. That was the kind of stupid stunt that could ruin lives.

The trip to Hogwarts was carried out in conversation about their holidays. And Draco had proposed to Luna, who of course had said yes. She actually seemed really happy, Draco too. Lucky buggers.

Hermione sat with Harry, Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table while they ate that night, Hermione doing her damnedest to ignore Snape's presence. Though she'd spent a few good minutes drinking in the sight of him when she'd first arrived. And he had snapped her doing it, had actually quirked a brow at her too. She had promptly blushed and snapped her eyes to her plate. God he probably thought she was some stupid school girl with a crush. How humiliating.

After dinner though, the shit hit the fan. At least that was what it felt like to Hermione. Snape stalked up to her and stared down his nose at her.

"I would like a word with you in my office," he said.

Hermione just nodded, not actually moving though.

"If your finished..."

Oh, he meant now. She looked at her plate. _Damn, it's empty_. She should have attempted to eat more. She rose to her feet and followed him, pretty sure she'd left her stomach behind. She supposed he wanted to berate her for what happened before the holidays, or at least tell her to keep her mouth shut about it.

They marched to his office in silence and as they entered it, the torches and candles within it flared to life. He took a seat at his desk and gestured for her to sit as well. Hermione obeyed, her posture rigid. Severus could practically feel the nerves pouring off her in waves.

He had already gone over this meeting in his head a thousand time. Being confrontational was not the way to go, flinging about accusations and getting angry would only cause more problems than not. He didn't know how much her Veela instincts would suppress her temper to appease his, but he would still rather get through this conversation without a fight. He was able to look at the picture, now that he had taken the time to overcome his anger and analyse the situation. He hoped Miss Granger had the maturity to do the same.

He stared at her a long time and she couldn't help but fidget under his scrutiny, bouncing her leg up and down a little at a very quick pace. Why wouldn't he just get on with it?

He finally slid a Calming Draught across the table to her.

"Drink this," he ordered.

"I've already had one recently," she told him. Though it was true it was losing it's potency considering how long she'd been on them.

He only nodded and drank his own. It would help fight the impulses being near her created and hopefully prevent the flaring of tempers.

"I believe we have something of importance to discuss," he said.

"Look I'm not going to say anything about what happened before the holidays-"

"That is not what I am referring to," he cut her off.

"Then what-?"

"Do not play dumb."

It didn't come out as snappishly as it normally would have, the Calming Draught doing it's work. Though he had wanted to get through this with level heads and a minimum of anger, some of it did still simmer underneath and stupid questions like that would bring it up again.

"Your Veela heritage Miss Granger," he told her.

Her eyes widened a fraction before narrowing. "Professor McGonagall."

"Professor Dumbledore actually."

"Bloody meddlesome."

She muttered it under her breath but he still caught it.

She leaned back in her chair and let out a breath. "So you know... All of it?"

Severus nodded.

Her hands gripped the edge of her seat, either side of her thighs. "Please don't say anything."

"I have no intention of advertising your condition to the wizarding world Miss Granger," he said irritably.

"No I mean, just...don't reject, don't accept, just don't say anything."

"And how would that help the situation?"

"I'm not looking to help the situation," she said softly. Her eyes grew glassy as the tears welled but she refused to let them fall. "I made my decision, I've accepted my circumstances."

"You fear my acceptance," he said, his voice flat.

She didn't respond, but the look in her eyes was confirmation enough. His acceptance would likely undo everything she'd gone through to get her to the point of accepting her own decision.

Until this moment he hadn't actually thought about how difficult it might have been.

He had thought that perhaps she was just being dramatic, a drama queen. Even after speaking with Lucius, the reality of it just never really hit him except for how it affected him. He may have briefly touched on what it meant for her, but he had never lingered on it. It must have been grating to lose so much control of your own life, especially someone as tightly wound as her. A few words from him could undo her.

Severus had felt like that once, under the service of both his masters. Very little of his life was his own.

He let out a sigh and unrolled the contract. "I have taken the liberty of drawing this up, I believe it benefits us both and I have left space for you to add anything you feel is a necessity." He saw her actually shrink away from it. "Read it Miss Granger. Consider what you are doing very carefully, the people you are hurting and who would mourn your loss, the potential you are throwing away..."

She hesitantly took it much to his satisfaction. Guilt... He could wield it just as well as Dumbledore could.

"Can I have a few days?" She asked.

Snape nodded and she rolled it back up to read in the privacy of her room. She rose to her feet and headed for the door.

"Why did you not call in the life debt Miss Granger?" His question halted her mid step.

"I had no choice in this matter. Do you honestly think I would take away yours?"

"You took it away the moment you decided not to tell me."

She turned back to look at him, her expression troubled. "I suppose I did. I never really thought of it like that. And look, about the life debt, if I knew how to undo that magic, I would. Considering all the times your intervention has saved our lives, you don't owe me."

Both of them felt the magic coiling in the air between them and within them before Severus felt a weight lifted, the bond severed. He released a shuddering breath as he looked at her, her expression surprised, but not a hint of regret. She wouldn't have been able to erase the life debt if she hadn't truly meant it.

Her surprise morphed into a small, wry smile. "I never would have thought it would be that easy. Now that the life debt is gone and you truly owe me nothing, do I still have to read this?" She waved the rolled up contract.

"Yes, because it still stands regardless."

Hermione nodded and left the room. Severus stayed where he was, still stunned. Never would he have given up such leverage as a life debt, yet she had. Even though it had been accidental, it couldn't have been done if she hadn't meant it.

He leaned back in his chair. That was not how he had intended it to go, but he felt it was successful. He couldn't force her to choose life, but it seemed her hold on her decision was a tenuous one.

He had meant what he said though. There would be many who would be devastated by her death. And she truly was throwing away a lot of potential, the girl could be anything, do anything she set her mind to. Whatever career she decided to pursue, she would likely rise to the top of. And an affiliation to her, through marriage obviously, would benefit him as well.

xXx

Hermione got up to her dorm and headed straight for her room, just giving Draco a shake of her head before locking herself inside. He had likely seen Snape cart her off from the Great Hall at dinner and wanted to make sure everything was ok, or he was just curious.

She just wasn't up to talking to anyone yet, she needed to process her conversation with Snape and everything it meant for her.

She wanted to live yes, and her Veela was thrilled. Though he hadn't said it exactly, this was acceptance. But she had to wonder if he knew what he was really getting himself into. A life time with her. He could barely stand her.

She had always thought it was likely he would accept her out of some sense of duty, but part of her had believed he would reject her too. It really could have gone either way in her mind. Some days she was so sure he would accept, others that he would reject and so she truly had taken the decision from him entirely and tried to ensure he would never know.

Was that...manipulative? Was she as bad as Dumbledore or Voldemort? To a lesser extent maybe. Definitely to a lesser extent actually, but still, had she been in the right? Maybe this was just one of those situations where everybody was a loser no matter what they did.

Still, she applauded herself on keeping her cool for the most part while dealing with him, though the Calming Draught she had downed before dinner had probably helped immensely. But even so...

She eyed the contract sitting in front of her on her bed, it was still rolled up. She was a little afraid of opening it actually. Who knew what it might say? Would it have been better to read it there with him so she could discuss any concerns right then? But then, that might look like she was accepting his offer of his acceptance of her.

That didn't sound right. She frowned and tried to rephrase that in her head before giving up. What was the point?

_Just read the damn contract Hermione_.

Maybe...maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Or maybe her self preservation instincts were kicking in and she would end up accepting whatever he offered whether it was a crap deal or not.

She was hesitant about opening it though, that would be like changing her mind wouldn't it? But Snape did have a point. She didn't want to leave all her friends behind, there had already been so much loss. Did she really want to give her friends one more person to mourn? And she just flat out didn't want to die. There was so much she wanted to do with her life, she had wanted to change the world. The wizarding world anyway. Find the cure for Lycanthropy, equal rights for magical creatures or something, maybe invent something that could defend against the unforgiveables, just...something epic anyway.

In one swift movement Hermione unfurled the contract and set it out before her. She skimmed it first, before going back over and reading every detail. Then read it again in shock.

It was actually pretty fair. There were a few points she would need to discuss with him, some things that she really had to wonder 'why?' But all in all, it wasn't so bad. He'd really taken the time to think it all through. How long had he known about her anyway?

It started out pretty good, he wouldn't deny her what she needed, nor would he blackmail her for it etc, along similar lines to Draco's contract with Luna.

However, it got a little weird when it brought up bindings, apparently he wanted them to get married, this was a bit of a shock. She couldn't understand the 'why?' of that.

And it went on about children as well, how they would bear his name. If they were married, they would have his name anyway. Towards the end it spoke about her refraining from using her pheromones on him. She couldn't even control that. But in return for that, he would curb whatever tendencies or habits affected her Veela negatively, within reason of course. It was all so strange. There were definitely some things that needed to be discussed. If she decided to accept.

Who was she kidding? Practically the moment he offered she'd changed her mind about choosing death. Turned out she wasn't as strong in her convictions as she believed. Was that weak?

"Ugh!"

She flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She missed being a regular old, if of slightly above average intelligence, muggleborn.

_Draco!_

Draco knew Snape pretty well, maybe he could provide insight. Maybe there was something she was missing here. Snape had to have wanted more than this for saving her life surely. But did she want to let him in on this recent development? He would probably try and persuade her to take it. But she had pretty much decided to, so would it really matter? But she didn't want to blindly accept it either. Hence the need to talk to Draco.

She rolled off her bed and went to the door. Draco was still in their common room flicking rolled up balls of parchment at one of the ornaments resting on their coffee table.

"I see you're being real productive," she said, dropping onto the sofa beside him.

"Aren't I always?"

She handed him the scroll. "Have a read of this and tell me what you think."

Hermione watched his expression as he did so, but it didn't really change much. Slytherin's seemed to take the whole 'stone faced' thing seriously. But occasionally she would catch something, a very marginal widening of the eyes at times, a slight furrowing of the brows, things she would have missed if she hadn't been looking for them. One time his mouth actually dropped open a bit.

"This is from Uncle Sev?" He finally asked. He recognized the writing, but he had to be sure.

She nodded. "Got it from the man himself, from his hand to mine. And you appear to be in as much shock as I was."

"Well, yeah. I've never known him to be so generous to someone outside of my family."

Hermione breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, here I thought I was just being a real harsh judge of character, but if you're thinking the same... So what's going on?"

Draco was looking rather perplexed now as he skimmed the contract.

"Well, there's no magic to this so it won't be binding, no terrible consequences if one of you breaks it."

"I figured the no magic thing was because of those last couple of points, about my pheromones and his habits. He must know I can't control them, a magically binding contract to enforce something I can't control would just be ridiculous."

Draco nodded his agreement, it made sense. "But these other points... He's actually being quite fair."

"I know. Why?"

Draco thought about it for a long while before a slight smile crossed his face. True, Severus didn't like Hermione and Draco truly would have expected harsher terms. Had it been almost anyone else, Draco wouldn't have been so surprised.

"Because he has to spend his life with you."

She frowned. "I know, shouldn't that make him angry?"

"I would have thought so too. But this way, he's trying to set the tone of your...relationship. Equal terms, something you can both be content with... He doesn't want to fight. He's fair, even generous with family. Congratulations Granger, Uncle Sev shifted you to the 'family' category."

"That's it? Really?"

Draco nodded. "That would be my guess. Uncle Sev has always been able to look at something and see the bigger picture, always a million steps ahead of everyone else. He's trying to make the transition easier. Not just for you, probably more for himself, but still..."

It did make sense when he put it that way. Why would he make things harder on himself just to make them harder for her? She was aware he had a petty streak when it came to certain people, and she was one of them usually. But being at odds with her for the rest of their lives would serve no purpose and in the end, would it really make anyone happier?

"So what are you going to do?" He asked.

Her mouth opened, then closed and she looked at him a long time. "Probably... I want to discuss some of these points with him but probably...I'll sign it."

Draco let out a relieved breath. "Good. I thought you might be stubborn about this."

She sent a rather venomous scowl his way.

"Don't look at me like that, you know you're too stubborn for your own good."

"I admit I'm stubborn, but too stubborn for my own good? I think you're exaggerating."

Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he kept his mouth shut, not willing to argue with her. He was actually just really relieved his friend wasn't going to die. He didn't have so many that he wouldn't feel the loss keenly.

"When are you going to go and speak with him?"

"Tomorrow maybe, I want to take the night to really think it over."

"What's there to think about Hermione? Why are you so keen to die for this?"

She gave him a flat stare. "I didn't mean whether or not I would take him up on this, I meant to think about any other points that need to be brought up or clarified."

"Oh, yeah, that's better than what I was thinking then."

"Clearly."

He eyed her up. "You don't seem very happy."

"Just...scared I guess," she shrugged. "I don't know how this is all going to turn out and it terrifies me. I mean, there's a lot to consider. The public's reaction, the Board of Governors, I doubt they'll be happy about a teacher screwing his student." Draco winced at the idea of them doing pretty much anything other than arguing with each other. "My friends? The Weasley's? How are they all going to take it? The rest of the student body when they find out...Snape and I are public figures since the wars end, I doubt we can keep it hidden for long. And then there's the relationship itself. He loves Lily Potter and even though I don't love him, there's still this part of me that's jealous. I can only ever be with this one man and his heart belongs to someone else and has done for over twenty years. How am I supposed to compete with that? Can I even hope we could be something real or is that only going to hurt me in the long run when I realise it can never happen?"

"Merlin I'd hate to be you."

"I'm not particularly enjoying being me right now either," she huffed.

"Not for your situation, but your mind...it seems to come up with some pretty negative scenarios quite quickly. Does it ever stop?"

She shrugged. "I have to sleep sometime. Besides, it's become second nature to think of everything that could go wrong first."

"Why?"

"It's how I kept us alive. It's easier to turn a bad situation around if I've already prepared for it. Obviously it's a habit I haven't broken."

"Well you better break it, Severus is negative enough already, can you imagine the pair of you together?"

She whacked him on the arm. "Ha ha bloody ha."

"I'm not joking."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the delayed update, been packing and moving to the other side of the island, then unpacking and organizing. So real life has just gotten in the way a little bit. And I was a bit reluctant to post this chapter, there's a mistake or an inconsistency with the previous chapters in it I think, but I cannot figure out what it was or where it is. I've been over and over it but can't find it. Unless I fixed it and just forgot I did. If you find it, please let me know. Also, sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes I missed too.

**Chapter 11**

Hermione made it to the Great Hall for breakfast with Harry as per usual and they took a seat. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night and had ended up listing everything she wanted to discuss with Professor Snape.

It was her intention to approach him after classes and speak with him about all of this, but she wasn't so sure now. Maybe she should think on it a little more. Or maybe she was just being a coward.

She glanced up at the head table, her eyes met his for a brief second, but other than that he didn't acknowledge her. Not that she expected it or anything, she just wished she could glean how he really felt about all of this. But she didn't think he would answer her if she actually asked.

She didn't eat much, a piece of toast and some juice. The anti nausea potion seemed to sap her appetite, but Madam Pomfrey said that was normal.

"I think I'm going to head up to class now," she told Harry who eyed her half eaten toast in concern. "I'll see you later."

"At lunch yeah?" Harry asked, wanting to make sure she would be there and he could force her to eat a bit more.

Hermione nodded. Harry was aware she preferred to use the free period she had after Arithmancy to study in the library. He released a sigh, it was so quiet without Ron. And something else was up with Hermione, something new. He could only wait until she was ready to tell him. Everything felt so...out of place these days. But he couldn't put his finger on what the problem was exactly.

Hermione could be rather good at compartmentalizing when she wanted to be, so focusing on Arithmancy wasn't so difficult and she actually managed to take good notes and retain everything Professor Vector spoke of. After class it was off to the library for a nice productive bout of study time. Normalcy was good. And she did still have her goal of achieving the highest marks ever awarded.

For a good six or seven hours she was able to forget about Snape and Veela's and dying. It was actually quite refreshing. Maybe speaking with Snape yesterday had helped bring her peace of mind, everything must have been weighing on her much more than she thought. And now that she knew death wasn't her only option... But she always knew it wasn't, she had always known she could go to him and that his acceptance was a very real possibility. Maybe it was because she had his acceptance already.

At the end of the day Hermione headed down to the dungeons wondering if Snape would let her discuss personal issues during his office hours. Did other students even come to him for advice to discuss their work?

Once outside his door she knocked softly, entering at his invitation. He looked up at her entrance, his face impassive. But he had a stack of papers on his desk, quite a large stack.

"If now is a bad time I can come back later," she said.

"Now is as good a time as any Miss Granger."

She nodded and shut the door behind her, coming to take a seat in the chair across from him. She pulled the scroll from her pack and unrolled it on the desk between them.

"There were some points I wanted to discuss, if that's ok..."

She spoke softly, her whole being radiating uncertainty. He was unused to seeing her like this. Perhaps that drastic personality change was a very real possibility after all.

Hermione just felt awkward, once she told him she agreed to this, she would owe him everything.

"I expected as much, what displeases you?"

"Nothing...displeasing, just some things I would like a bit of clarification on."

"I thought it was fairly clear."

"There are just a few things I'm having difficulty understanding," she pressed.

He quirked a brow. "Such as?"

"You mention marriage. Why would you want that?"

"For the fidelity clause," he replied bluntly.

Her eyes flashed angrily for a moment and Severus was actually a little relieved to see it. This docile, uncertain creature that had entered his office only made him uncomfortable, he didn't like it.

"I'm not some harlot Professor, and I'm pretty sure my Veela renders me incapable of screwing around on you." There was a flash of irritation in her at what he was insinuating. "And you know it'll apply to you too right? So I ask again, why would you want it?" Her voice softened once again. "You'll be trapped with me. And only me."

"Did you imagine that I would, how did you put it...Screw around on you?"

She averted her gaze, her expression both guilty and saddened. "I just...I don't want to take any more of your freedom than I already am."

She winced as she felt that stabbing pain in her chest, that Veela part of her hating the idea of him with anyone else.

Severus sighed and leaned forward, still in Professor mode as he addressed her, it was easier to detach himself from this conversation that way.

"Miss Granger, due to the circumstances, sex, children and a life time together are in our future. Unless you still have your heart set on dying..."

"Would you prefer I did?" She asked softly.

He was actually a little taken aback by her question. Who was this girl and where was the loud mouthed, opinionated Gryffindor he was accustomed to?

"Quite frankly, no, I would not. Now may I continue?"

She nodded.

"For the most part, the marriage is for the children we will eventually have."

And that was an inevitability, a Veela's ultimate goal was procreation, and keeping their mate safe and happy of course. He had learned that much at least.

"We may not care for each other, but it or they will not know it. As far as they are concerned, this relationship was not forced and they are the product of a loving, happy couple."

Severus knew what it was to grow up in a loveless home. Though he and Hermione may not care for each other, he knew enough about her to know she would love and protect any children she had, Veela instincts or not.

And so long as he did not make the same mistakes as his father, everything would be fine. He didn't think it would be too hard to be a better father than his own, abusing women and children had never been something he was particularly fond of.

Though he wasn't sure if he was capable of loving his children, or expressing it appropriately, he knew he would do what he must to care for and guide them.

An heir... It was what he wanted, but never thought he could ever have. That was his bigger picture. Someone to mould, pass on his knowledge to, to carry on his name, and to inherit. Though his estate wasn't significant, it was important to him.

Upon the deaths of his maternal grandparents, the Princes, they had left a small part of their fortune to his mother. It wasn't the main manor, it was a smaller home on the outskirts of Aberdeen, modest but lovely and spacious, and most importantly, private.

The back held many green houses of varying environments and was growing various plants used in his potion making that he had installed almost a decade ago. He had his own dreams, his own aspirations and his own goals, things he would not be able to accomplish in his life time, but works that he would want his heir to continue with, passions and goals he would like to share with his children.

At least Granger was intelligent, their offspring should be blessed in the intellect department. Hopefully they would not end up as insufferable as she was.

Well, he would curb those tendencies.

Hermione was actually kind of relieved to hear that, though she hadn't realised it had been weighing on her. She would prefer the loving façade to everyone finding out the truth. Both her kids and those around them.

Hermione looked up at him. "Would it...would it be all right if the children weren't the only ones we deceived?"

"Explain."

"If it's not too much to ask, could we keep the Veela thing from everyone? If you'd rather it came out though, because it's likely going to cause trouble with your job..."

"No, I would rather it remained a secret as well. As for my job, as long as we can keep it between us until you graduate, or perhaps..."

He leaned back in his chair, considering it. There was very little tying him to Hogwarts now. And he did despise his students...

"It will stay a secret, and any repercussions, we will deal with when the time comes."

He wasn't that unhappy at the prospect of losing his job. He only got it because the Dark Lord had wanted him to, and he only kept it because of Dumbledore. But it was all over now, he could leave Hogwarts if he wanted to.

Perhaps this would be his last year here. Then he could move to the cottage full time and work on his own projects without the interruptions of classes, students, lesson plans and marking.

"Was there anything else you wished to discuss?"

Now that she knew his reasons for wanting the marriage, it sort of tied in with most of the other things she had questions about.

"Pheromones, I can't really control those."

"I know. But I am also aware one can learn some measure of control eventually. Learn that control and I will do what I can to make things easier on you. From the moment you agree to these terms, we will do things in spite of your Veela heritage, not because of it. We will do what we can to keep it as far from our arrangement as possible."

Hermione smiled faintly and nodded. She would like that a lot actually. She didn't want her Veela interfering any more than it had to, she would prefer it didn't pop up at all, but she was something of a realist.

"I just have one more question, you never mentioned it in here and I just want to know...I'll still be able to further my education right? You won't try and stop me from doing that?"

"No. Of course not. You are entitled to your own career and your own life Miss Granger. I would not stand in the way of either."

Quite frankly whatever got her out of the house and out of his hair was something he would welcome. He wanted to remind her that their children should take precedence once they were born though, but he was quite sure that would only annoy her. Besides, devotion to those she cared about was just one of her traits, he was sure she would put any children she had first. Hopefully. He would have to have a little faith in her with that.

It was a difficult thing to contemplate considering he believed most around him to be incompetent and was more likely to believe he would be disappointed if he put even a modicum of trust and faith in them.

"Have you decided what career you would pursue after Hogwarts?"

"Not really, I didn't think there would an 'after Hogwarts.' I guess an apprenticeship in either Charms, Arithmancy or Transfiguration most likely."

"Is it your desire to become a Professor?"

Hermione shook her head, those three areas of study were just her favoured ones. "I want to do my own thing, work on my own projects." Severus could appreciate the sentiment. "Maybe work for the Ministry or something... I still have time to think about it."

Severus nodded. She did have some time.

"So what happens now?"

He gestured to the contract. "Anything else you wish to discuss or add?"

"Can I reserve the right to do so later?"

There were a few points she was a bit iffy about, but didn't want to bring them up just yet for fear her inferences could offend him. It was possible, given how often she had misjudged him in the past, that she was just reading them with the wrong mind set. She would see how things went, then if it became a problem later, she would bring it up.

"I suppose."

"Then no, I have nothing else right now."

Severus just nodded. Now came the awkward part. Discussing the binding and sex... How was he supposed to do that? Lucius had mentioned it was best that she...feed from him during the act, it ensured a certain level of connection apparently. He could not just give his blood to her in a vial, there was more to it than just blood according to Lucius.

Perhaps they could just both get really really drunk.

How...experienced was the girl anyway? He eyed her up, as if looking at her would just give him the answer. He supposed he could try Legilimency, but what an awful way to start this off, she would be pissed. But he didn't particularly want to ask either.

Perhaps it would be better to bind first, it required consummation and he wouldn't have to bring it up like he was some kind of lecher and so eager to get her into bed. Yes, definitely the better way to go.

"Then we should discuss the binding, as soon as possible would be best considering..."

She nodded. It would be. Her cheeks suddenly coloured and he knew where her mind had taken her.

"I suppose you have your own vision for such a thing." _She is a girl after all. _

"Not particularly." When Hermione thought of her marriage, she had always envisioned her mother planning it all really. "I guess I'd prefer something small and private, and for practical purposes it would have to be that way anyway."

Severus inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew there was a chance she would want something elaborate, to make it an event or something, he was relieved she felt otherwise, and that she knew there were good reasons behind such a decision.

Severus nodded his agreement. "And what of your parents? Would they accept a magical binding or would they prefer something they would consider more traditional?"

"My parents won't be a problem," she replied.

He didn't like the way her face just completely blanked, not a trace of emotion on it at all. What was the problem with her parents? Probably best not to pry. She was capable of dealing with her own affairs.

"What about you?" She asked. "Any preferences?"

"Not particularly, aside from the small, private ceremony."

"Well that works out nicely then."

She offered him a small smile. Despite the lengths she went to to avoid him learning of this, at least she was putting forth the effort now. Perhaps a lot of her reluctance did stem from fear of his reaction.

With as much detachment as he could, he explained to her how wizarding ceremonies went and they got to organising it. There wasn't much to it since they didn't plan on making a big thing of it. So plans were hashed out quickly, the few people they wanted there, the date and time of the binding, both decided against any sort of reception afterwards and only the people present would know the marriage existed at all, and of course the person performing it.

It actually wasn't that difficult to agree on things, though it was likely they were both going out of their way to avoid a confrontation or argument and just agree whether it was what they wanted or not. But by the time dinner neared, they had reached a tolerable arrangement though there were a few more details to figure out. Severus called an end to the discussion so they would not miss dinner. As they neared his office door, Hermione paused and tugged on his sleeve, he turned back to look down at her.

"I just...thanks, for this. For trying to make it easier. And I'm sorry I tried to keep it from you."

Severus nodded. "No more secrets of this magnitude again."

"Ok," she agreed.

They both left his office and made their way to the Great Hall, he veered off eventually to take the staff entrance, it would not do to be seen with her.

Hermione got up to the Great Hall, actually smiling. Maybe everything could be ok. Not, 'amazing I love my life' ok, but ok. Ok was definitely better than dead.

She saw Harry sitting at the Gryffindor table and when he noticed her walking towards him, she beamed at him. He hadn't seen her looking so happy in a while. He returned it with a confused smile of his own.

She took a seat beside him and started piling food onto her plate, not a lot, but it was better than nothing.

"Ok, are you going to tell me what has you so happy?"

She leaned in close. "Snape knows, we spoke and we've come to an arrangement. It's not too bad."

Harry nodded, his smile widening and he threw his arms around her, holding her tight enough to make breathing difficult. Hermione didn't care about that though and hugged him back just as fiercely.

He wouldn't have to lose her. Harry stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come on, we'll eat in the kitchens and you can tell me all about it."

He practically dragged her out of the Great Hall. He just wanted to know Snape wasn't taking advantage of his friend, he needed to know more about this arrangement.

Severus watched the little interaction from his place at the head table, though keeping his expression impassive, he was less than pleased. Were the articles the Prophet had printed correct after all? He would have to speak to the girl about it.

He turned to Minerva who was sitting beside him.

"I've taken care of it," he said simply, knowing the woman would understand.

She looked absolutely relieved. "That is good news Severus. Everything went well then?"

"Better than either one of us expected I would think. I need to speak with you in private later."

"Of course, as soon as we finish dinner we can head up to my office."

xXx

Hermione and Harry settled in the kitchen and were eating as she recounted what happened, her conversations with Snape, the contract, the plans for their binding. Harry hated the idea of her marrying Snape, but if it would save her life... He would keep his mouth shut about it, no point in making things more difficult for her.

"You'll be there won't you?" She asked.

"Of course I will."

Hermione grabbed his hand in both of hers and held it firmly. It felt like everything was going to change, she was getting married. To her Professor...

"So are you going to live with him? I mean, I know you're getting married but... that sort of blew my face off actually. I guess if you're getting married he would expect you to live with him."

"Well we haven't really worked out the logistics, but he's thought about it, like, really thought about it, the future and everything. We're going to pretend we...care for each other, so you know, when we have kids..."

Harry's eyes widened. "You're going to have kids?"

His eyes nervously darted to her stomach as if something were already there and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Well, yeah. I wanted to have kids anyway one day, and procreation is a Veela's ultimate goal, you told me that when you were doing your...'research.'"

She grinned at the affronted face he made. His idea of research was skimming through a book, picking out the interesting words before deciding whether or not to actually read the sentence, then spout the fact to her if it was deemed worthy enough, then he would promptly forget it to make room for some other interesting fact. He took no notes, he didn't read anything thoroughly, he didn't fact check... Still, it was the thought that counted and she loved him for it.

"Anyway, to go with the ruse, I guess I would have to live with him."

"How do you think that's going to go?"

"He's really making the effort, so I should too, and maybe it could be ok. We'll probably just...stay out of each others way. Besides, he resides at Hogwarts most of the year so I would probably not have to see him much."

"But you'd have to have...conjugal visits?"

She gave him a flat look. "Conjugal visits are for prison inmates."

"What would you prefer I call it? Snape and Hermione's shag/blood drinking nights?"

Hermione winced. "Or you could just not call it anything and do me the favour of not thinking about it at all."

"I don't know... it has that whole morbid curiosity factor."

She quirked a brow.

"Not the actual act," Harry back tracked. "Just the fact that it's you and Snape."

"Please, say that louder I don't think the rest of the school heard you," she hissed.

Thank God house elves weren't ones for gossip.

xXx

"I will finish out the year, but once it is over, I will not be returning to Hogwarts."

Minerva's eyes were still wide from his earlier announcement of his resignation.

"Pardon?"

Yes, Minerva had already said that before. Severus did not like to repeat himself.

"I believe you heard me well enough," Severus said.

Minerva was shocked. This had come completely out of the blue. "Why?"

"I have sorted things out with Miss Granger and considering some of our plans, namely the binding, it will get out to the public eventually and I would rather not still be employed here when that happens."

"Severus we can explain to the board-"

"No. Both Miss Granger and I have agreed we would prefer this business of her being part Veela never make it to light."

"Why?"

"Because that is what we have decided woman, leave it be." He spoke through gritted teeth. "I am giving you plenty of warning to find a replacement."

"And what if I cannot find a suitable replacement?"

He really wondered what made her think he would care. "Then England's future in the potions department is bleak indeed."

Using Hermione and their situation was a good reason to leave as well without having to tell Minerva just how much he disliked it here. With Albus and the Dark Lord dead, he had no reason to continue on here.

"Severus-"

"Do not try and convince me to change my mind, it will not work."

"No, I wasn't going to, I know well enough what you're like," she heaved a sigh filled with resignation. "I was just going to wish you well and ask what you intended to do once you finish here."

He truly thought he would have a battle on his hands. Minerva was well known for her stubbornness, she even lead the house that embodied it.

"I see. I would like to pursue my own projects and research."

"Well, I will definitely be disappointed to see you go."

Severus could not say he would be disappointed to leave. The more he thought about it, the more he rather...looked forward to it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Hermione was both pleased and nervous with how fast everything had progressed. She had further discussed the binding with Professor Snape and everything would be ready. They were holding it this Saturday, midnight, under the full moon out by the lake.

There would only be the couple, Minerva, Harry and the officiant. Draco had feigned hurt at not being invited, but truthfully he didn't care that much. Besides, it was in the middle of the night, he'd either be asleep or with Luna, neither were something he wanted interrupted.

Although, watching his Godfather get married... He never thought he would see the day. And to someone he so loathed... He would likely be pissed so Draco had decided it would probably be best he wasn't there, he wasn't sure he could resist the urge to say something smart. The last thing he wanted was both Hermione and Severus' temper focused on him.

Hermione sighed, doodling little spirals and stars along the edges of her parchment as Professor Binn's droned on. Thoughts of her binding continued to swirl around her brain. Professor Snape had done most of the organising for their binding, and it actually sounded kind of nice. Simple, but not without its charm. Under a full moon and a sky of stars, a blanket of snow beneath them, it sounded nice.

As for her dress, Snape had offered to pay for it and had added her to his vault should she need anything. She had been surprised, but declined, she didn't want to take his money on top of everything else.

She would buy her own dress and pay her own way, if he decided he wanted her to pay rent, she would do that too. She had no idea how much of that was her Veela wanting to please or that heavy weight known as an I-O-U. And she owed him everything.

Apparently there were specifications for the dress, it had to be white and it had to be made out of either cotton, linen, wool or silk, it had to be all natural. All of their clothes did, the officiants too. And there had been some research to put towards the binding cord and their vows.

Bill and Fluer's wedding hadn't been like that, but Minerva had told her their wedding had been a bit more modernised. What her and Snape were doing was something ancient and came with bonds that were hardly in use any more, well, except by foolhardy young couples with notions of eternal love, or some of the more ancient Pure blooded lines. The vows they made would be unbreakable and eternal and fidelity would be among them. They really would only have each other for the rest of their lives. It was a little scary, but even without it, it was inevitable, for her anyway.

She didn't think she could ever be with anyone else, she didn't even feel the stirrings of desire for anyone, hadn't since she had learned Snape was her mate. It wasn't as if he had become the centre of her world or anything, it was just more a complete indifference to other males.

Objectively, she could mark out the attractive ones, but there was no other reaction, no little skip of the heart or hitch in her breath like she'd had with Viktor, or when she'd had a crush on Draco back in fifth year.

Yes, she'd had a small little minuscule crush on the prat, it was probably something every girl who'd ever come into contact with him had. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised to know lesbians had gotten a bit confused about their sexual orientation when looking at him.

A sharp jab to her arm broke her from her thoughts and just about caused her to smack her face into the desk as her hand was knocked out from supporting her chin. She sent a scowl at Draco who only smirked in reply.

"How do you expect to get the highest marks in history if you spend all your time day dreaming?" He whispered.

She huffed discretely and flipped him off with a little grin.

They were dismissed shortly after and she walked with Draco down to the Great Hall for lunch. Once again she had to force down her food and fight her lack of appetite. But soon, she would likely not need the potions and her body would go back to normal. Normal would be nice.

But she would have to have sex with Snape. It didn't fill her with the disgust her friends probably would have preferred.

There was the natural nervousness about it being her first time of course, the crippling fear of not being good enough, Snape was no doubt far more experienced than her. What if he liked it rough or was into something really kinky? Would she even be able to draw the line or would she do whatever he wanted of her just because of her Veela?

And now she was working herself up into a right state. She knew he would have some measure of control over her, it was one of the reasons she had been so reluctant about all this in the first place, but she didn't know exactly how much control, and ok, they had specified in their contract or guidelines or whatever that he would not force her to do something she wasn't comfortable with. But it wasn't like it was magically binding so what was there to stop him really? Would his commands be as difficult to resist as an Imperius curse? But then, she hadn't used his money to buy the dress like he had told her to. So maybe they weren't irresistible commands.

They got into the Great Hall and parted ways, Hermione taking a seat by Harry. Ginny was scarce these days, things still strained between her and Harry. Hermione and Ginny weren't that close so the division wasn't as painful as when Harry and Ron were fighting and avoiding each other.

Teenage boys could be just as petty and bitchy as girls at times.

Hermione sighed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder feeling exhausted, mostly worn out by her own mind as it muddled through her fears.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked.

"Life...seems to be sucking the life right out of me," she replied, rubbing at the scar on her chest. It was playing up again, getting itchy and burning a little.

Harry chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I get those days too. Eat up, might make you feel better."

They both knew it wouldn't, but she ate anyway, mostly just fruit. They ate in comfortable silence, mostly while watching the others around the table, catching snippets of conversation here and there.

Harry noticed she kept on rubbing at the scar from the DoM. It always made him feel a little guilty, she wouldn't have it if he had just listened to her about it being a trap. Madam Pomfrey had tried to do all she could, but the dark magic infused into it would likely bother her for the rest of her life.

Hermione glanced around the hall as she nibbled on her fruit, her head still resting on Harry's shoulder who was staring unseeing across the hall at nothing. Her eyes caught Snape's and she could practically feel the disapproval coming from him. What was his problem? She frowned at him curiously, trying to figure it out and he refocused on his plate.

"We need to do something," Harry spoke so suddenly Hermione actually jumped.

"What are you on about?" She asked.

"Doesn't life just feel kind of...I don't know, just...dull isn't the word I'm looking for, but something like it?"

"Monotonous? Less thrilling? Sort of empty? Stagnant?" She supplied.

"Yeah, sort of like some thing's missing."

"Ron? The ever present threat of death?"

"Those things too, not that I want the threat of death back, but I don't know, just...something. So we should do something."

"Like what?"

"Like your bucket list. Now that you're not going to die is no excuse not to do something awesome like that," he said. "Me, you and Ron if he's well enough. We should just go, do those things, and other things." He could easily see her obvious reluctance. "After we graduate of course."

She relaxed a bit. "I would like to...but I don't know how long I can be away from...you know."

Harry nodded, knowing she meant Snape. "With Port keys and Apparition you don't have to be away long."

Hermione thought it over. Maybe it would be nice, to just up and do something fun for once. Surely they had earned it. And jumping straight back into their education after the war was a bit over taxing. Going from schooling to further education or work would be...well, exhausting. They did need a break, time to just absorb properly, relax, do something for enjoyments sake.

"Ok," she agreed. "It would be nice to have no responsibilities for a while."

She had enough savings that she didn't need to go into working straight away.

"Brilliant," Harry grinned, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and digging into his food with a bit more gusto.

xXx

Hermione made her way down to Professor Snape's office, pulling her school robe tighter around herself to ward off the chill of the dungeons. The man had summoned her by owl earlier in the day and she wondered what more they had to discuss.

She knocked on his door, waiting for his permission to enter then peeking her head in.

"You wanted to see me Professor?"

He inwardly winced at the title knowing what he would be doing with this girl by the end of the week. At one point the thought had sort of aroused him, but the reality was beginning to crash on him now.

"Severus," he corrected her. "When we're alone, Severus."

She just nodded hesitantly as she came in and took a seat. "So what did you want to speak with me about?"

"Your relationship with Potter," he said. "End it."

He had watched her interactions this past week, they were close, too close. The Prophet was probably right about them.

She glared at him, her eyes blazing. She did not have so many people that she cared about around her that she was going to start dumping them.

"I will not give up my friendship with Harry just to please you!" She hissed it angrily, trying to ignore the sudden painful twinge in her chest and the severe plummet in her mood.

"I am not asking you to give up your friendship."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"The...intimate relationship-"

"There is no intimate relationship," she sighed."You shouldn't read what you see in the Prophet, it's rubbish. Harry is...my brother. Being with him would be like incest I would think."

He stared at her a long time, weighing up the truth of her words. The fact of the matter was, it wouldn't be incest. They were not blood related.

"I swear sir, there never has been nor will there ever be more than a sibling love between me and Harry. Besides, I think Harry might be..."

She gave him this look Severus didn't quite understand. She seemed to think he should know what she meant. He didn't. So she sort of wiggled her head in a strange side to side way, her eyes telling him he should get this. He still didn't.

She just rolled her eyes and sat up straighter. "Never mind then."

Hermione was pretty sure Harry might have been struggling with some homosexual tendencies or was gay and either in denial or just didn't realise. He had made a few odd comments here and there, behaved a little oddly around a certain Weasley.

At first Hermione thought it might have been guilt that caused Harry to act that way, he blamed himself for a lot of the deaths that occurred and George had lost his twin, his best friend, other half even, maybe. She wasn't sure what it was like to have a twin or how deep that bond ran. Harry behaved...suspiciously even, and Hermione didn't think it all stemmed from guilt.

"Was that all you called me down for? To question my honour and loyalty?" She asked.

The irritation had set back in. Would this be a common thing? Him doubting her? Well, she supposed that was what the fidelity charm was for. So he wouldn't have to doubt her, though it was a bit of an insult. Whether it was a relationship she wanted or not, she would be loyal.

As for whether or not she wanted this relationship, well, that was a little more complicated. She did and she didn't. That crush on Snape she had years ago was coming back full force, but with it came an almost crushing guilt in knowing he had little choice in this and the fear that he might abuse the control he had.

Although, so far, she hadn't actually had to obey any of his commands and on some level, she knew he wasn't going to do something so despicable, but the fear was there all the same.

"Yes, it was," he replied.

"Are you wanting a wand oath with this conversation? As insulting as it is I can give you one."

She was scowling at him quite fiercely now and he supposed he might have been a bit hasty in assuming the worst. But in his defence, the pair truly did look so close, they always seemed to be at the others side. And they had been through so much together. He wouldn't be surprised if she turned to Potter in her last few days of freedom for something more, some kind of comfort she knew he would never be able to give her.

"No, that won't be necessary."

"Then I'll be going, and don't worry, I'll try to restrain myself from pawing at the rest of the male student body."

She stormed out, angry and inexplicably hurt by his opinion of her. Though she supposed she should be used to it by now. He had never particularly liked her. Maybe it was just because she thought they had been moving forward, they had been so civil lately, and then once again he insulted her by insinuating she was less than faithful. And what was worse, he just assumed, he didn't even ask if it was true.

xXx

Hermione managed to spend the rest of the week avoiding any contact with Snape. It probably wasn't the most mature idea in the world, but she was still stinging from their last conversation. Two days on and every time she thought of it her annoyance would flare and she would lose all focus. It was distracting and she didn't even understand why his low opinion of her hurt as much as it did, she should have developed a thick enough skin by now, she'd had years of it.

Maybe it was nerves, their binding ceremony was tonight. Maybe she was just looking for a fight or something, a reason to put the whole thing off.

Hermione was sitting in the library at the window, staring down at the grounds. She had wanted some time to herself. What she really wanted was someone to talk to about all this, but she wasn't entirely sure what 'this' was or how to explain it. Cold feet? Veela problems? Guilt problems? Just plain old reluctance? Did she even have a preference over which problem?

What was worse, was that in the days since her conversation with Snape, she'd found herself being quite distant with Harry, she didn't even really understand it herself. They still ate together, but she didn't really hang out with him any more, just the two of them, no walks, no talk of anything even remotely personal. She usually loved hanging out with Harry and she couldn't help but wonder if her conversation with Snape was the reason for her reluctance to do so now. She didn't feel compelled or anything, nor was she actively avoiding him. But she was less physically affectionate with him and even when she walked with him she put more distance between them.

Her behaviour with Harry had never bothered her before, but were Snape and Prophet right? Were they really too close to be anything but lovers? But they weren't lovers though, they truly were friends, family.

Hermione groaned and let her head drop onto her knees in front of her.

"Mione?"

She looked up as Harry came towards her, taking a seat beside her on the window sill by her drawn up legs. It was a cramped fit, the sill not being very wide.

"Hey Harry," she greeted.

"Hey," he returned. "You ok?"

"Yeah, nerves I guess."

She hadn't told Harry what Snape had accused them of, not much point. Besides, Harry was used to the assumption, the Prophet wasn't the only one to make it.

Harry took Hermione's hand and she found some measure of comfort in the familiar action.

"Everything will be ok," he tried to reassure her.

"I know," she said. "It's just...ok is a far cry from happy."

Was it selfish of her to want more than just 'ok'? Well, she may never have Snape's love, but she would always have Harry and the Weasley's. and eventually she would have kids who she was sure she would love unconditionally. And she could pour herself into her career until she had those kids. Would Snape want more than one?

In the contract it had said 'children' denoting more than one. So maybe he would be open to the idea. Maybe he would be happy with the idea because it would keep her busy and away from him... What a disheartening thought.

"You can make your own happiness 'Mione," Harry told her. "You don't need Snape for that."

Hermione gave him a small smile. Logically she knew that, but there was another part of her that she was sure seemed to be growing stronger and it seemed hell bent on making sure Hermione's life revolved around Snape. She really didn't like the kind of person she was becoming, and she seemed to be doing a lot of whining, even if only internally.

Hermione took a deep breath. "You're right Harry. You're absolutely right."

Her happiness did not have to revolve around Snape and his opinion of her. She was letting her stupid Veela instincts make her weak.

She threw her arms around Harry's neck, now on her knees as she hugged him from the side. Harry reached around, one arm wrapping around her waist, his other hand rubbing her arm comfortingly.

Severus had been searching for Miss Granger most of the morning. Their binding was tonight and he wanted to clear the air as it were. He was well aware she was still sulking after their conversation the other day. He may have taken the wrong route in being so blunt, but in his experience Gryffindor's lacked the the ability to understand subtlety. However, his concerns were still valid and he didn't see why she should be so upset about it.

He entered the library, stalking through the shelves looking for her. He had already been to her dorm and Draco had informed him she was not there. The library was the next logical choice.

Down in the back of the library sitting on one of the windows were Potter and Granger, all over each other. A hug yes, but why was it they could not keep their hands off of each other?

_Why is it always a Potter!?_

First Lily and now Granger. He may not love Granger, but it was beside the point. She had assured him there was nothing going on!

He clenched his fists and stalked out before they could notice him.

Even a fucking Veela could not remain loyal to him.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: So I'm gonna be taking a break from this story for a little while, I'm not abandoning it, just taking a break. And as for Harry being gay, it was George I was trying to hint at with it and the whole possibly being gay thing is just Hermione's _suspicions_.

The hand fasting vows, took them from a website, can't remember which one. I've never been to a wedding and tend to avoid them on tv and I was after something that didn't sound ridiculously fluffy as well, those vows suited.

Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and faves, and thank you very much for reading :)

Chapter 13

Severus stalked up to the Head Dorms. There were only a few hours until their binding ceremony. He had taken some time to calm himself, with the help of a couple of drinks and he had decided to talk to Miss Granger and clear the air. He had not spent so much time trying to reach an amicable agreement, the impressive restraint on his part when it came to his temper... It wasn't all so it could be wasted like this. He wanted this marriage to at least start on a neutral if not positive note. So he would swallow his pride and talk to the bloody girl before the ceremony, since she was being so childishly stubborn. Although, why he had to make all the concessions when it was her bloody mess was beyond him.

He knocked on the door to the dorms and found _Potter_ there, opening the door for him like he belonged. Severus scowled at him, could feel one side of his mouth twitching to curl up into a sneer. Could he get away with punching him in the face and just obliviating the memory of it from Potter's mind? It was a thought. A very appealing thought.

"I'm guessing you want to see 'Mione," he said.

Severus abhorred that nick name, another reason to sock him in the mouth.

"I certainly have no desire to see you."

He could see the boy fight down his angry retort and inwardly smirked as he stepped aside to let him in.

"I think she just got out of the shower," Potter told him.

Severus discretely eyed him up, he wasn't wet so he most likely hadn't been in there with her. And yet, the knowledge did nothing to alleviate the urge to punch him in the face.

Potter went and knocked on her bedroom door. "'Mione, visitor."

She opened the door in nothing but a fluffy white robe, her hair damp and she was still towelling it dry. She seemed surprised to see him there but she gestured for him to enter her room. He didn't even give a thought to propriety, too busy glaring Potter away from them. He wanted a word alone with his...soon to be wife.

Once in the bedroom, they stared at each other a moment, both searching for the words that wouldn't set off another argument. However, his attention was quickly captured by her smooth bare legs. He could only see from slightly above the knee down but still appealing none the less. Having them wrapped around his waist as he... He forced himself back on track and was promptly distracted by the low V her robe made down her chest. Was he somehow forcing the attraction because of their impending nuptials, or was her Veela forcing it?

He had acknowledged to himself that she was physically appealing before, but hadn't actually felt the stirring in his trousers before now, not like this. This time it wasn't seemingly coming out of nowhere.

It took a moment for the realisation to hit. Bloody hell, it was because her pheromones weren't interfering. It was his own imagination and stirring hormones.

Damn her, he was supposed to be angry with her. The silence continued to stretch, getting more and more awkward until they both blurted out pathetic apologies simultaneously. Hermione quickly got in before he could after that though.

"I'm sorry for how childishly I behaved. Avoiding you wasn't the answer. And I shouldn't have snapped at you the way I did. You've been really great about all this and I should be more grateful."

That was what she was apologising for? How about cavorting with Potter this morning?

Severus pulled his wand from his sleeve and cast a silencing spell about the room in case Potter had his ear pressed to the door. He certainly had no qualms about disregarding other peoples privacy.

"How about an apology for your behaviour with Potter this morning?" He hissed.

She stared back at him in obvious confusion. "I don't understand."

"I saw you in the library with him this morning." There was a seething anger beneath the calm words.

"I know you don't like Harry-"

"This is not about whether I like Potter or not, this is about your behaviour."

"I told you there's nothing going on like that with me and Harry," she said, exasperation colouring her tone.

But she could see that he fully believed what he was saying. But he was so wrong. Opening her mouth to continue denying it, she quickly decided against it. Denials weren't going to make him believe her, if anything they would probably just make him more suspicious. Jesus, he was as insecure as she was about all this. Maybe even more.

With a sigh, her shoulders slumped. "I have no occlumentic defences to speak of, would you like to take a look?"

Her eyes met his and she gave him full access. He didn't even hesitate as he dove into her mind. Hermione summoned all her memories of Harry and infused them with everything she felt for the boy - When he and Ron saved her from the troll, the gratitude, relief, a sense of debt... - The hours they spent with her as she brewed the Polyjuice potion - Their little time turner adventure at the end of her third year - Moments they had spent in the common room just doing homework or talking - When Harry told her she looked beautiful at the Yule ball fourth year, there was a deep affection, but there was no lust, no desire, certainly no crush on him - Moments of their time training their little DADA club, how they helped each other to be able to help the others - Parts of their horcrux hunt, when Ron left and they were both feeling betrayed and abandoned and how they only had each other.

Though the feelings ran deep, it was a friend/family kind of love. Severus saw their Christmas together, spent having fun on the beach. And most recently, their embrace in the library. Potter _was_ trying to be comforting. The feelings behind it, from what he could feel of Hermione's anyway, had been innocent.

He pulled out of her mind, unsure what to say. He refused to apologise for his suspicions, they were valid concerns.

"Maybe..." She started hesitantly. "Maybe one day you can just trust me when I say things."

He gave her sharp look but going by her expression, that comment hadn't been an intentional dig. She seemed to truly just hope they would have some measure of trust between them at some point.

He released the anger and let the tension drain from his body, giving her a nod. Maybe one day.

"Harry...Harry was the first friend I ever had in my whole life," she said. "Ron took some time to warm up to me. And I doubt it's escaped your notice, but I'm not a popular person. With Ron gone, Luna and Draco always...off together, Harry is the only one I have left. And outside of school, he's the only family I have left."

"Your parents-"

"That situation is complicated, I don't want to talk about that. But I grew up in a very affectionate home, my parents doted on me, they were always giving me hugs and kisses, pats on the knee, shoulder squeezes and stuff. And I do the same to the people I care about, I've never even thought about what it might look like to other people. Right now though, Harry is the only one left, I guess that's why it looks like I favour him or something. If he were a girl, would it be an issue though?"

"But he isn't a girl."

"Is it really so unseemly? My behaviour with Harry." She asked, her eyes uncertain as she bit at her lip. "I- I can try and be less nice if you want."

Severus frowned at her. Was this what Lucius had meant when he spoke of the impact a mate could have? Because despite all of her defending her friendship with Potter, he did see the change in her when he called her out on her behaviour, the distance she put between her and Potter for a few days. And now she was actually asking him.

If he told her her to back off, would she? He just had to say the word.

And though it was on the tip of his tongue, he couldn't stop himself from reflecting on her past actions with the boy. They hugged a lot, sat close, touched each other through pats on the hand, heads leaning on shoulders. Nothing untoward exactly, but there was a closeness he didn't often see and certainly had never experienced. Well, Lily had been like that he supposed. She would hold his hand, rub his back when he was upset, hug him... Jesus Christ.

"No," he finally said, resigned to it now. "But perhaps a slight decrease in the amount of physical contact."

She shot him a relieved smile and nodded. "Ok."

"Why is Potter here right now anyway?"

"Draco and Luna are...out, so I have no one to help me with my hair and dress. Harry offered. It does up at the back so I can't do it myself. And I have no idea how to do anything with my hair, especially since I can't use magic."

"And you're relying on Potter for that? Have you not noticed the haystack on his head?"

He almost smiled at her when he noticed she was trying to fight down a laugh, but he turned towards the door instead.

"Blind leading the bloody blind," he muttered to himself. "I will see you down at the lake Mi- Hermione."

xXx

Harry walked with Hermione down to the lake as it neared midnight. They were both dressed as per the specifications, the all natural clothing, barefoot, bare of any kind of product and magic, so no make up, no hair products or grooming charms.

It was bloody freezing, especially being barefoot as they were. And Hermione's dress wasn't exactly made for warmth, it was strapless and silk, the back laced up but there were still gaps, even though it was long enough to brush against the ground the length did nothing to keep the cold breeze out. At least she had forked out for the underwear as well.

She shook her head of the thought, what a stupid thing to be thinking about right now.

They got down to the lake and could see the circle of lanterns in the distance with three silhouettes waiting for them. Professor Snape, Minerva and the officiant. They made their way over, Hermione trying to still her shivering. Her binding was likely to give her pneumonia. It had all sounded quite lovely as they discussed it. Unusual for her, she had completely disregarded the practical concerns.

As soon as they reached the circle of lanterns Snape offered his hand to her. She walked up to him and settled her hand in his, right to right.

"Hermione and Severus," the officiant began. "Know now before you go further, that since your lives have crossed in this life, you have formed eternal and sacred bonds. As you seek to enter this state of matrimony you should strive to make real the ideals that to you, give meaning to this ceremony and to the institution of marriage. With full awareness, know that within this circle you are not only declaring your intent to be hand fasted before your friends and family, but you speak that intent also to your creative higher powers. The promises made today and the ties that are bound here greatly strengthen your union and will cross the years and lives of each soul's growth. Do you still seek to enter this ceremony?"

"Yes," they agreed after a moments hesitation.

The hand fasting cord was produced by the officiant and it looked quite beautiful in her opinion. Professor Snape had told her it was traditional they wove the cord themselves, pouring into it what they hoped for their union.

Hermione had picked a nice blue and a dark purple, their inherent meaning what she hoped for, peace between them, stability, dignity, trust and understanding. At the end of the woven cords she had tied a little silver pendant, the Celtic symbol for happiness.

She was mildly surprised with the Professor's chosen colours, she had expected black or green or something along those lines, black being symbolic of power, sophistication, depth... and it was just a colour she had come to associate with him. As for green, well, that was more her own ignorance of his preferences she supposed, and how much stock he would put into the idea of the cords.

But he had gone with silver and grey, she knew silver denoted calm and was supposed to be a mentally cleansing colour, though similar to grey it was supposed to be the more optimistic side of it. And grey itself stood for security, reliability, intelligence, solidity and at the end of his cords, she saw he'd picked silver and a Celtic symbol as well, a shield of protection. He was promising to protect her. Though he had always done so, she was still touched by the promise.

The cords they had put so much work and thought into separately, had been woven together and the officiant was now using it to bind them together.

"Will you honour and respect one another, and seek to never break that honour?" The officiant started on their vows.

"We will," they intoned in unison.

He wrapped the cord around their hands. "Will you share the burdens of each so that your spirits may grow in this union?"

"We will."

Another wrap of the cord. "Will you share each other's laughter and look for the brightness in life and the positive in each other?"

"We will."

"Hermione and Severus, as your hands are bound together now, so your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust. Above you are the stars and below you is the earth. Like the stars, your love should be a constant source of light, and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow."

The officiant removed his wand from his sleeve and cast something over their cord, which sort of severed it in half, the braided cord wrapping itself around their wrists like a bracelet. Hermione wore the charm of protection Severus had added, and he wore the one of happiness she had given. Their promises to each other.

They were bound now, permanently.

Hermione wasn't sure what to do now and looked back up at Severus to follow his lead. He just thanked the officiant for doing this and for his silence on it then turned to Minerva and thanked her for attending. He only scowled at Harry before looking at Hermione and offering his hand, she accepted it with a small smile and his much longer fingers closed over hers. With that, he activated a port key.

Hermione hadn't been expecting that and he had to help her keep her balance when they hit their destination. She really wished he had of at least warned her. He steadied her and she straightened up and looked ahead, there was a rather lovely looking home from what she could see in the moonlight and from the glow emanating from some of the windows. It was two storeys, probably white or a light colour close to it. It was difficult to discern in the poor lighting. The garden was meticulously maintained and devoid of snow while the lawn was covered in it.

"Where are we?"

"My primary place of residence now that the Dark Lord is dead. I have not spent much time here however, I could not risk the Dark Lord or my 'brothers' learning of its existence."

Hermione nodded as he lead her inside. It wasn't massive, but it was spacious, decoration sparse but tasteful.

"While I would prefer you don't over feminize the place, feel free to decorate it how you wish, within reason of course."

Hermione nodded again, a bit distracted by the sudden obvious discomfort that overcame him.

"If you require a lust potion to be able to-"

"No, I don't need one," she told him, trying to ignore the blush she could feel heating her face at the admission.

Though she thought her crush had died down, everything that had attracted her to him in the first place was still there. She found him attractive as he was, hooked nose and all. Should she tell him so though? Did he require that kind of reassurance or could he make the connection on his own? No, she wasn't going to say it, he was smart enough to figure it out surely. She didn't want to look like some kind of kiss ass either, he'd accused her of that in the past and she didn't want to bring back those memories. As to whether he needed a lust potion to be able to be with her, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

He again took her hand, leading her to the stairs.

"Uh..." Her voice quavered. "Just so it's out there...I've never...had sex before."

He caught himself before he stumbled up the step at her announcement. Gryffindors...as blunt and as subtle as a sledge hammer to the face.

He wasn't as surprised to know this as he would have expected. He would have preferred she had some experience, but nor could he deny the little thrill that she would be solely his for the rest of their lives. There was something satisfying in the fact that she would know only him. He could mould her, shape her into the kind of sexual partner he desired. The girl was a quick study, she would learn fast.

And sex was going to have to be a common thing between them anyway, why not make it a prospect to look forward to rather than dread? He was aware his appearance was less than desirable, the only reason he'd been doing so well with the women lately was because of his reputation and the rumours of his power and the wealth accumulated from the Order of Merlin.

While he was comfortable, he was not rich, the monetary reward from the award wasn't as much as people seemed to think. Still, he knew how to make sure his looks had no bearing on the experience he could provide. But still, how did he respond to her statement? Gryffindor...be blunt.

"I admit, I don't know what to say. It will hurt, but it doesn't have to hurt for long," he told her.

Hermione nodded. She knew that much as well, that it would hurt anyway. Hopefully he knew how to make it hurt for only a short time.

They got up stairs, there were a few doors but he lead her to the one furthest away at the end of the hall. The bedroom.

Hermione found it a bit difficult to swallow and her grip on his hand tightened. She felt his thumb brush lightly over her hand and it soothed her almost immediately, part of her anyway.

_Just follow his lead Hermione, I'm sure he knows what he's doing._

xXx

Severus woke up the next morning, though, going by the position of the sun it was closer to mid afternoon. He rolled over, looking at the still fast asleep figure of his wife. Maybe there was something to this Veela matching thing. Last night had been...

He could feel his body reacting to the memories. It hadn't been without it's problems of course. When Hermione had needed to bite him, she had burst into tears upon seeing the scars on his neck and asked how she was any different to Nagini. It was an absurd question but he had tried to be patient and reassure her, for one, she would not be disfiguring him or injecting any kind of venom, nor was she a snake.

Her ridiculous outburst had erased all the desire and arousal he had managed to coax from her and he'd had to start again. But start again he had, and it had actually been... Even when she bit him, there was a kind of pleasure/pain thing and a hyper awareness of everything she was feeling. He wondered if she felt anything from him. He thought it was likely, because after that, she seemed to know exactly how and where to touch him and what to do to him without needing to be guided. Every move, every touch, the pressure, the amount of time she spent on certain parts of him, it had been perfection.

Merlin, he'd never had an encounter like it. Once he had coaxed her passion out of her... And the more she saw how he enjoyed her attentions, the more confident she became, she truly was a quick study.

He actually smiled to himself. This didn't have to be a bad arrangement at all. She could entertain herself during the day and they could share nights like that.

He looked over at her again, still asleep. She actually looked better than she had yesterday, the dark circles around her eyes not so prominent, even her colouring appeared more healthy, her hair shinier, it was almost a transformation on it's own. His blood seemed to have worked quickly for her.

He rubbed at his eyes, the binding cord catching his attention. He knew what her colours meant, and the symbol she'd attached. At least she had put the research into it rather than just picking what might have been her favourite colours.

He mentally snorted. _Of course she put in the research. Who do you think you married?_

He would have to keep the cord hidden, perhaps disillusion it, hers too. They couldn't risk their marriage getting out yet. Though he didn't much care about his job, she could be expelled, her grades called into question, not to mention her reputation. She had a lot more to lose than he did.

He reached for his wand, taking care of it now, and of hers. Most in the wizarding world who saw it would be able to recognize it for what it was.

They would have to go back to Hogwarts this evening. They couldn't stay away for long without drawing suspicion so neither one would get any time away from their classes, certainly no honeymoon.

Her eyes fluttered open and fixed on him. His body went rigid as he wondered what to expect from her, what kind of reaction she would have to last night. Well, early morning he supposed.

"Good morning," she said, her voice sleepy.

"Good afternoon actually," he returned. It was still a greeting, as well a correction.

Her eyes widened a fraction and she sat up, holding the blanket up to cover her, part of the scar she earned from the DoM peeking over the top.

Her scars had caused some self consciousness for her too, though Severus couldn't care less about them, he had his own after all. Although there was some discomfort when he imagined the kind of things she'd been through to get them. He had an intimate knowledge of all the ways scars like hers could be caused.

"We have to get ready to go back to school," she said, getting out of bed and slipping into her wedding dress.

He had rather liked it on her, it was simple, elegant, tasteful. He watched her, the thoroughly shagged look did wonders for her. She was muttering to herself, mostly about how she was going to get back to her dorm without being seen.

"I'm going to have to transfigure this dress. It would look mighty suspicious to be walking around in it."

"The floo here is connected to the headmistresses office and Minerva had a house elf send your clothes," Severus informed her.

Hermione nodded, that was convenient. Most likely Professor Snape's foresight, he was pretty good at that. She looked back at him, feeling a little awkward and unsure of what to do next.

"Feel free to take a shower. We still have time before we must be back."

"Ok," she said, it was a good out. She headed towards the door he gestured to, pausing as she reached it. "I just want to say thanks, for everything, and that I'm sorry for everything. I didn't handle the situation as well as I should have and I thought some not nice things about you, though to be honest, they weren't that invalid, I had every reason to expect you'd be angry about this and that you might have directed that anger at me, it's not like it's not something you haven't done on a regular basis, but I was wrong and I'm sorry and I promise I'll try to make this something you won't regret, I'll-"

"Hermione, stop," he cut her off, not particularly ready to have his mood ruined by her babbling. "I admit, based on our past interactions you had every right to expect a less than favourable reaction from me. Had you been around when I discovered the truth, you likely would have been on the receiving end of the brunt of my anger. However, what I should have mentioned during our previous conversations was my desire to...let the past go and begin again, forgive our trespasses against the other and move forward with an amicable partnership."

Hermione smiled at him a moment before he actually _felt_ her uncertainty.

"Do you think maybe we could be friends one day?" She asked.

"It is...something to aspire to."

Severus lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling as she disappeared into the bathroom. He had actually forgotten the wonders a night of good sex and a good sleep could do for him.

xXx

Hermione got back to school, Professor Snape had stayed back at the cottage for a little longer. Hermione was supposed to make the rounds, make sure people saw her around and start spreading the story she had spent the night and most of that day in the infirmary, confirm what Harry should have been telling people already.

Hermione had never felt better though, she had forgotten what it felt like to be healthy.

Her first stop was the Gryffindor common room to see Harry, he had noticed the change in her almost immediately, she truly did look better than she had in a long time. It was confirmation that she really wasn't going to die.

He wondered if he should go and thank Snape for giving Hermione this chance. He quickly decided against it though, Snape would probably only tell him to mind his own business.

As far as Harry was concerned though, Hermione was his business. Still, he didn't want to provoke the man. But Harry was grateful to him.

Her and Harry headed back to her dorm so they could talk more, and so Hermione could catch up with Draco and Luna. Harry watched her speak and she was so much more animated than when she left, her cheeks flushed with colour. He was just glad she wasn't giving him details on her wedding night, that would be too weird even for their close friendship.

They got up to her dorm where Draco and Luna were snuggled on the couch, Luna reading and Draco's head resting in her lap. They both looked up at their entrance.

"Wow, seems a good shag agrees with you," Draco grinned up at her.

Harry winced at the comment. "Shut it, we don't need to talk about that. As far as I'm concerned, they played chess all night and he talked her better."

Hermione laughed while Draco let out a rather inelegant snort.

"You do look better though," Luna said, giving her that kind smile.

"Thanks Luna."

"Guess it all went well then?" Draco asked.

"A couple of hiccups, he likely thinks me mental but..." She shrugged.

Her little breakdown comparing herself to Nagini had been irrational and absolutely absurd. She had no idea what was going on with her these days but hopefully now that she was getting back to normal, her moods would too.

Draco's grin widened. "Hiccups? What kind of hiccups?"

"None of our business hiccups," Harry snapped it, shuddering as he tried to avoid mental images of Hermione's night.

"Don't be such a prude Potter."

"I'm not a prude, but come on."

"It's ok Harry, I'm not about to go into detail," Hermione assured him.

They dropped into the couches and chairs, joining the happy couple.

"And congratulations on your wedding Hermione," Luna said now that Harry and Draco had quietened.

Hermione gave a strained smile. The idea of her binding was still a bit tainted with the feelings of debt.

"Thanks Luna."

xXx

The rest of the week passed with blissful normality in terms of her functioning. Madam Pomfrey had been happy to know Hermione no longer needed the potions, but she was not part of the secret as to who her mate was.

Hermione was once again able to motor through her homework and was on her way to being back at the top of all her classes.

She met up with Snape only once more to sort of...recharge. They hadn't really spoken since the binding, when she met up with him, there had been maybe a few sentences before they sort of converged on each other and got the deed done.

She had woken up without that awesome surge of energy that she'd experienced the last time but put it down to the fact she wasn't as unhealthy as she was before so the surge wouldn't be as drastic.

They were all waiting for Ron to come back now, he would be arriving this afternoon and they had arranged a welcome back party for him in the Gryffindor Common room.

He wasn't going to be able to get his N.E.W.T's with the rest of them, he would have to work over the summer, but the Headmistress had arranged it so Ron could take them towards the end of the summer.

Hermione and Harry were milling about with the other Gryffindors waiting for Ginny to bring Ron up. The portrait door swung open and Ginny brought Ron in where he was immediately swamped by other Gryffindors, giving him hugs, offering congratulations and well wishes.

Hermione and Harry grinned at him once he was let out from the mob, Hermione throwing her arms around his neck, Harry hugging them both.

He was just happy both his friends were going to be ok.

"You're looking better than when I last saw you," Ron noted.

Hermione smiled up at him. "So are you."

"All sorted then?"

"All sorted," she confirmed.

There was no way in hell she was saying how just yet, not with all these big mouthed Gryffindors around. And this was Ron's homecoming, she didn't want to upset him with the news of who her mate was and that they had already bonded.

They all let each other go and their little welcome home party kicked up a notch as someone pulled out alcohol. Normally Hermione would be against such a thing, being Head Girl and all, but she supposed it was just for tonight, and it was a special occasion. She would just have to make sure none of it made it to the younger students.

Hermione and Harry spent much of the night listening as Ron regaled everyone with tales of his hot nurse. Hermione was pretty sure only half of them were true. Her and Harry were drinking slowly, and towards the middle of the night Hermione had hit a pleasant buzz. The younger students had already been sent up to bed so she had stopped watching them like hawks and started to enjoy herself.

Everything felt right with the world again. It had been a long time coming.


End file.
